- [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- [Amy] Just ahead on a special "Carolina Impact," rewriting reality with AI.

As this technology moves forward, so does the need to understand it and stay ahead of what's next.

- [Stephanie] We need to be an attacker to understand what attackers might do.

- [Amy] And when those threats become real, the results can be staggering.

- A finance worker in Hong Kong got scammed into paying a whopping $25 million.

- [Amy] We also explore how AI is already reshaping industries.

- This will become the largest fiber optic cable manufacturing facility in the entire world.

- [Amy] And that's bringing over 130 jobs to our region.

- There are people here who are looking for jobs who will be excited to fill those positions.

- From the track to the highway, AI is quietly changing how we move and how we stay safe.

In NASCAR, it's helping drivers compete at a higher level, and behind the scenes, it's protecting truck drivers and the people around them.

- Our seatbelt usage has increased by 50%.

Mobile phone usage has decreased by 75%.

Crashes have decreased by close to 25%.

- [Amy] As AI continues to evolve, it's also changing the future of work, shifting how and where people fit in.

But some skills remain uniquely human.

- AI is not gonna be out there building houses, pouring concrete, laying walls.

- Tonight, we take you inside the possibilities, the risks, and what it all means for you.

Rewriting reality with AI right here on this special edition of "Carolina Impact."

Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

In just the past year, more than half of adults have used AI-powered tools, sometimes without even realizing it.

Studies show AI could impact up to 40% of jobs worldwide while also creating entirely new industries we're only beginning to imagine.

From unlocking your phone with Face ID to predicting the words you'll type next or offering you streaming suggestions, AI uses data to think and learn like humans.

"Carolina Impact"'s Jason Terzis joins us with a look at how some area businesses are putting AI to work.

- Well, artificial intelligence is certainly transforming the world in a variety of ways by automating tasks, enabling advanced diagnostics, and creating sophisticated decision-making technology.

I had the chance to visit with three different organizations from various sectors: education, energy, and fintech, to learn a little more about how AI is changing what we do and how we do it.

(energetic music) It's a fast-changing world, and perhaps nothing in it is changing faster than artificial intelligence.

- Technology grows more sophisticated, so does the potential for deception.

- [Jason] And with all those changes comes the good and the not so good.

- I am not Morgan Freeman, and what you see is not real.

- There's a whole new wave of AI technology called deepfakes, digitally manipulated content.

- I'm sure everybody has seen a lot of the Gen AI stuff that's out there where you can basically, through Gen AI, make people say or do things that they didn't say or do.

- [Jason] While fun for social media videos... - What's up, TikTok?

- [Jason] It's a new gateway for criminals.

- A finance worker in Hong Kong got scammed into paying a whopping $25 million to scammers who used deepfake technology to successfully pose as a company executive during an entire Zoom meeting.

- [Jason] Stephanie Schuckers heads up UNC Charlotte's Center for Identification Technology Research and is co-director of the university's Artificial Intelligence Institute.

- So we're a National Science Foundation center.

Our focus is on identity and biometrics, kind of like fingerprint, face recognition, but how that gets embedded into an overall identity system.

(lively music) We need to be an attacker to understand what attackers might do.

- [Jason] Stephanie leads a team of local and international tech wizards in trying to beat the bad guys at their own game.

- It could look like you who is logging into that bank account.

It could look like you who's on that Zoom call.

And so what we want to do is we want to harden those systems, and we can do that through something called liveness.

- [Jason] Liveness is part of an intricate algorithm that helps distinguish a living person from a fake.

Using 3D printers, Stephanie's team creates lifelike masks to see what can fake out a facial recognition system.

- And so what our work is, is to try to prevent people from doing that.

So we're building security systems to prevent them attacking with things like masks or even simple things like photographs.

- [Jason] By conducting their own mock attacks, they can help determine how to prevent those same attacks from happening in the real world.

- We can do all kinds of measurements in hardware to make sure it's a real person, and we can add randomness into those measurements to make sure that somebody can't duplicate it, even if they could figure out the hardware side.

- [Jason] But of course, not all artificial intelligence is being used for crime or preventing it.

A lot of it is helping businesses become more efficient in day-to-day operations.

- We've seen what's possible with AI.

- [Jason] AvidXchange is a financial technology, or a fintech company.

Its primary focus is to help businesses eliminate the manual and time-consuming tasks of processing invoices, approvals, and payments, as it says right on their elevators: transforming the way businesses pay and receive bills.

- Last year, three innovations that we launched for our customers.

- [Jason] Emily Dalton serves as vice president of product, helping AvidXchange create and implement multiple AI technologies.

- The first is what we call AI invoice exception reduction.

Now with AI, as the customer makes a correction, the AI is automatically learning, and then the next time that invoice comes in, it's gonna automatically apply that learning and speed up and automate that invoice through the system.

And the second innovation that we launched is AI PO line item matching.

So that's gonna be taking the purchase order line items and using AI to automatically match and reconcile those, making sure that what they purchased is matching what they're paying.

And then the third innovation that we launched is an AI approval agent helping those AP teams move those invoices through to payment as quickly as possible.

- [Jason] Omnivise is a portfolio of digital solutions and software developed by Siemens Energy to optimize, monitor, and control power generation assets, including gas turbines, renewable energy systems, and hybrid power plants.

- We started investing heavily in this, you know, quite a few years ago, and we were working with customers, some of whom were using spreadsheets to manage this process.

- [Jason] It's all part of a comprehensive AI-driven platform for predictive maintenance and asset management with the goals of maximizing performance, reducing costs, and preparing for the future of autonomous energy operations.

- So in Omnivise, we're creating software that helps all of these assets, this equipment, operate its most efficient way.

And that might mean I wanna be able to predict like how much sun will shine or how much cloud cover there will be on a given day because I know that that's going to affect when I need to turn on my power plant much more.

Using AI, I can predict exactly what those times are that I should be really turning things on and off in the energy system that I'm managing.

- [Jason] From weather forecasting and predictive maintenance at power plants to streamlining invoicing with accuracy and time-saving measures at businesses and finding ways to stay one step ahead of would-be criminals with deepfakes and facial recognition, there's a plethora of strategic planning and risk management happening in regards to artificial intelligence and its impact on business and society worldwide.

- We've worked hard to embrace AI here at the station because we're a small team and it can help us do more faster, but I often ask myself, what's next with it?

What do you think?

- Yeah, from our perspective, where it's able to create video sometimes, where we, you know, especially if you want something a long, long time ago and video doesn't exist, you can kind of create it.

It is the wild west of sorts.

China currently operates the world's largest and most advanced surveillance system, constantly tracking its 1.4 billion citizens.

Stephanie Schuckers, the professor from UNCC who we spoke with in that story, was recently in Washington, D.C., talking with government staffers about possible legal frameworks and guidelines for some of this technology.

Safety is obviously important, but you're also dealing with privacy issues and that sort of thing.

So, you know, it's one of these: where do you walk the line on what's safety, what's necessary, what's an invasion of people's privacy?

But so many different factors with AI.

- Never-never-ending.

Thanks for enlightening us a little.

- You're welcome.

- Appreciate it.

Well, while businesses are using AI to work smarter and grow faster, Meta and Corning have an interesting partnership in this new frontier.

While Meta is considered a leader in creating AI tools, the Hickory Corning plant is the largest facility in the world providing the fiber optics and glass technology that help power the data centers and infrastructure AI depends on.

"Carolina Impact"'s Dara Khaalid and videographer Russ Hunsinger show us how they're bringing jobs to our region.

(intriguing music) - On behalf of the entire team at Corning's Trivium cable plant, I'd like to welcome you to our official groundbreaking ceremony.

- [Dara] It's a new chapter in the book Corning has been writing since 1851.

- This state-of-the-art expansion opens a new chapter in our longstanding partnership with Meta, and it demonstrates that Corning can move at the speed and scale demanded by the AI infrastructure build-out.

(group laughing) - [Dara] With shovels digging to toss fresh soil, it marks the beginning of the multi-year, up to $6 billion agreement between Corning and Meta, where Corning, the company known for innovative glass science, will provide Meta with optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions so that Meta can fast-track the build-out of advanced AI data centers across the country that source technology made in the U.S., which means Corning needs to expand its optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory to meet the demands of its anchor customer, Meta.

- As they imagine what's possible with artificial intelligence, that then in turn enables a whole wave of new innovations in fiber and cable and connectors that we keep inventing.

- [Dara] With the opening of this facility comes new jobs.

- We're gonna hire well over 130 new employees just in this facility alone.

- [Dara] Some openings will be for advanced engineering and technology positions as well as technicians.

- Here in Hickory, it's a combination of skilled workers, skilled American workers, as well as building the domestic supply chain that's not just going to power the data centers that we're building today, but it's gonna power data centers and technologies in the future as technology evolves.

(upbeat music) - [Dara] I'm sure you're wondering, what is a fiber optic cable, and why does Meta need them?

So let's break it down.

Starting first at Corning's fiber factory in Concord, the largest in the world.

Number one, glass soot is put on the outside of a rod through combustion.

Two, glass is purified until it's clear with extreme heat.

Three, then that glass goes into a furnace and is stretched into optical fiber that's thinner than a hair on your head.

Four, after coating it with color, spools of it that are miles long are taken to cable facilities run by Corning, like the one in Hickory.

Five, this is where strands of fiber are blended into a full cable, wrapping up the process.

When customers like Meta receive them, the fiber optic cables are ready to... - Either provide the connections between data centers or interconnect within data centers.

- [Dara] As Corning and Meta continue to transform the AI landscape across the globe, the impact will most definitely be felt in our region with Corning's expansion here.

- We're proud that it's here in Hickory, but it's more than just the Hickory people that benefit from this.

The investment in the community is felt in other communities as well.

(upbeat music) - We decided to come to downtown Newton to talk to people about their thoughts on the new expansion, like recent college grads.

- With what's going on in the economy overall within the whole United States, that is great for the state itself, North Carolina, even with the housing market, that will bring in more people.

- [Dara] Those who've been in the workforce for years.

- There are people here who are looking for jobs who will be excited to fill those positions.

- Hey ladies, everything okay today?

Everything tastes good?

- [Dara] And business owners.

- New faces, meeting new people.

Great for business, of course.

(lively music) - [Dara] Donna Zamora co-owns the recently opened Mexican restaurant, Chilangos.

- Our grand opening was about a week and a half ago, so yeah, here.

So we've not been here too long in Newton yet.

And it's Taco Tuesday today.

Has anybody been taking advantage of Taco Tuesday?

- [Dara] For Donna, Corning's facility expansion means the possibility of new hungry diners who can support her business.

- It's great news for everybody here, anybody that has a business here.

So I think that's gonna be great, having more business and more people spending their money in here and staying here.

(upbeat music) - [Dara] From factory floors and small-town communities across our region to data centers driving global innovation, AI's impact isn't just visible; it seems unstoppable.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.

- Thank you, Dara.

As for what's next for Corning, an official told us there's a lot of work to do to expand all of their facilities across the state to keep up with the demand.

From the global partnerships powering AI to how it's hitting the road across our region, the same technology driving data centers and connectivity is now helping NASCAR and trucking companies move faster and safer.

"Carolina Impact"'s Chris Clark explains.

- [Chris] Most people still hear artificial intelligence and think of something off in the distance, but in Charlotte, it is already moving through real places: the NASCAR garage, utility trucks, and the roads people travel every day.

- You're not driving next to just a truck; you're driving next to a truck with a co-pilot on board, and that co-pilot happens to be an AI engine that can react very quickly should something happen.

- [Chris] Strip away the buzz, and this story gets simpler.

It's about pressure: more information than people can sort through on their own, less time than ever to sort through it.

- We just have so much data in NASCAR.

So just the menial tasks, AI has really helped us speed up.

- [Chris] For NASCAR engineers, the volume can be overwhelming.

- We're able to run a data system that lets us collect hundreds of different measurements multiple times per second throughout a whole lap.

You know, you multiply by 36 or 40 cars over 500 laps at Martinsville, for instance, and you end up with a tremendous amount of data each and every weekend.

- [Chris] So one of the first gains was not dramatic; it was practical.

- We take thousands of pictures on track every weekend.

It could take our engineers hours sometimes just to find our car out of those mess of pictures.

Integrating a machine learning model that was able to just sort pictures car by car saved us a ton of time.

- [Chris] And once the clutter starts to clear, the real decisions come into focus.

- Heights are a big thing.

You wanna make sure that the car going on track is where you think it is and where you want it to be.

And then during the race, damage.

So you're looking at pictures to see, okay, the driver said he hit the wall, is it bad enough that he needs to come in right now or can we leave him out there?

- [Chris] But even here, no one is pretending the machine gets the final word.

- You have to look at it fairly cautiously like you would any tool as you're building confidence in it, right?

You always have to verify it every step and make sure that you're not getting led astray.

- [Chris] Outside racing, that same kind of technology is already built into commercial fleets.

Samsara uses cameras, sensors, routing tools, and live vehicle data to help companies see more, react faster, and coach drivers in real time.

- Our customers are the utilities that help keep your lights on or logistics companies that deliver packages.

Our hardware and software makes it possible for them to have real-time insights into their vehicles, their equipment, their workers, and the sites that they operate at.

- [Chris] Pike Electric turned to Samsara after a problem kept getting worse.

- We continued to see accidents increase, and we learned about Samsara, and we began using them in 2018, 2019, forward-facing and inward-facing cameras, and have seen dramatic results.

Our Samsara cameras right up here.

- [Chris] Samsara watches from more than one angle and listens to more than one stream.

- We also have devices that plug into the vehicle and get a live feed of all the data that the vehicle is generating as you drive, things like, you know, your fuel level, for example, tire pressure, seatbelt status.

- [Chris] It also helps shape the trip before trouble arrives.

- You're not just looking at traffic or weather.

There are many other considerations like weight limits on the roads, bridge heights, can the truck go underneath that bridge, and truck-legal routes, all of those are built into the platform.

- [Chris] For Pike crews, that matters most when the weather is not a forecast but a destination.

- When we have ice storms, when we've got hurricanes, we usually are heading in the directions of those storms, or we're already there when the storms hit.

And sometimes, rather than going to a local news app to find out what the weather looks like, we can just go to our live cameras to determine what it looks like.

- [Chris] For drivers, technology is not abstract.

It speaks up.

(device beeping) - If you're speeding, it's going to alert you.

If you don't put your seatbelt on, it will remind you.

If it detects you're picking up a cell phone, it will give you a verbal cue.

- [Chris] Pike says the change showed up in the numbers.

- Our seatbelt usage has increased by 50%.

Mobile phone usage has decreased by 75%.

Crashes have decreased by close to 25%.

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

- [Chris] And after a wreck, it can answer the question that matters most.

- The videos are never watched; it's just the AI watching what's happening on the road just to keep the drive safe.

And there can be an accident in which the driver is not at all at fault, and the camera system can instantly exonerate them.

The driver can show the officers what happened.

- [Chris] And that changed the way people looked at it.

- There was some trepidation, but within weeks we were able to use videos to exonerate our employees from wrongdoing that they were accused of.

- [Chris] And that trust has grown into something bigger than the company itself.

- Every time that our driver has been trained and avoids an incident, that's an incident with a member of the public that could have been injured or killed.

And so we feel like that partnership is helping not just Pike but the community we live in.

- [Chris] At RFK Racing, the prize is performance.

On Charlotte's roads, it could be something more basic than that: fewer mistakes, fewer close calls, and more people making it home safely, less time buried in the noise and more time for the human being to make the call.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Chris Clark.

- Thank you, Chris.

Closing out tonight's special, as artificial intelligence continues to reshape the future of work, some estimates say up to 30% of our work activities could be automated by the year 2030.

Some students at Central Piedmont Community College are focusing on something different: the skills that make them irreplaceable.

"Carolina Impact"'s Heather Burgiss has more.

- [Instructor] 48 on center.

- [Heather] In this construction management classroom at Central Piedmont Community College, every decision from equipment to measurements... - [Instructor] At your inch-and-a-half mark.

- [Heather] And where to cut matters.

And for students like Saron Mamo, it's where confidence starts to take shape.

- I feel powerful, honestly.

I think you've seen I am the only girl in the class.

I'm able to do just as much as all the guys.

That's very empowering to me.

I really wanna do hands-on stuff.

I wanna see results right away, and I like that rewarding feeling.

So I just thought construction management was the best fit for me.

- [Heather] As artificial intelligence reshapes industries, the McKinsey Global Institute's report on the future of work in America estimates up to 30% of work activities could be automated by 2030.

And students here are asking a different question: what can't be replaced?

- AI, I know it's a fear right now that it might replace jobs, but I think in construction management, that's not likely, at least in my opinion.

- Mark it at the edge.

- You are still gonna need your human skills to work with other humans.

I think it takes a lot of teamwork.

- What was my roof slope?

- Five, two.

- I'm gonna find five at the edge here.

- [Heather] And in construction, teamwork becomes clear right away.

- Just 'cause I know AI's not gonna take that over.

Yes, it can help you on the desk, like doing estimating, scheduling, and even like writing reports and stuff like that.

But AI is not gonna be out there building houses, pouring concrete, laying walls.

AI can kind of help you out every now and then, but you need that special touch to do certain trades.

- And contracting is relationship building.

A lot of this, the bigger the project, the more people, the more companies and organizations that have to work together.

So those personal relationships and how you work with the people that actually have to get the work done.

- [Heather] Because no two projects and no people are ever the same.

- AI technology does not replace those relationships, and at the end of the day, business and contracting, it falls back on those relationships the most.

But also critical thinking, problem-solving.

You wouldn't need construction managers if everything was perfect, every architect created perfect plans, and everything was built exactly to the plan.

What happens when a plumber is, you know, a day late on getting to a project?

Well, AI's not gonna take into account those human errors.

Or, you know, we also gotta be empathetic.

There's maybe a reason why you didn't show up on time, but that's gonna set off a chain of events that you've gotta deal with to now, you know, get the job back on track.

- Programs like these at Central Piedmont are training students to use AI to assist and to be a tool, but not to replace the human element.

And for the students, it's the human connection and teamwork that make this work so meaningful and needed.

(monitor beeping) - Hi, Stephanie.

I'm Kojuanda.

I have a nature for service, and nursing still affords me the opportunity to have that direct patient care.

- What are we checking for?

- Yeah, we just wanna check some of your levels.

- [Heather] Kojuanda Carrington says the accelerated nursing program has trained her and her classmates in step with AI, with high-tech, high-pressure simulations.

- Go ahead and give him four milligrams of Zofran.

- [Heather] Trained to think quickly, act decisively, and care deeply.

- AI can help us with the efficiency of how things run, but there are just some things that it's not equipped to do, to feel, to have an inclination of something.

It could be something that simple smile that could make a difference in a patient's day.

- Does that sound okay?

- Just picture this.

You're in some sort of a healthcare crisis.

You don't really necessarily think about AI as being able to give that human aspect of it: the touch, the voice, the facial expressions.

Thinking about AI is more like the data pattern recognitions.

It's never going to be able to replace that human care.

And we also stress that too when we're doing that with our students.

We'll say, you know, it's not just about the books, it's about the empathy, it's about the compassion, it's about the time.

So that direct patient care is something that we also stress, and AI is never gonna be able to replace that.

- [Heather] AI can analyze data, identify patterns, support decisions, but it can't replace presence.

- So when they do come in, we look at it kind of like AI running alongside, not to necessarily replace.

And so how can we best help them to utilize those tools so that when they go out into those real-world scenarios that they're ready.

- Sometimes it's just not actually knowing the skill, but how to deliver that skill.

And that can make all of a difference, whether a patient, how they perceive the care that they're receiving.

- Take deep breaths in through your nose, out through your mouth.

- Just watching the thinking that takes place, the critical thinking that we're developing in them, and them actually being able to play it out, knowing that they're gonna step out there and just be prepared for whatever is gonna come their way.

We're teaching them how to adapt.

- [Heather] As AI continues to evolve in our workplaces, it seems for many careers, the human moments still matter most.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Heather Burgiss.

- Thank you so much, Heather.

As students learn the value of human connection in the classroom, Central Piedmont continues to grow its focus on artificial intelligence.

In 2024, it was one of the first community colleges in the Tar Heel State to launch an associate's degree program in AI.

Tonight, we've just scratched the surface of the many possibilities of artificial intelligence, from how it's transforming businesses to ways it's shaping our daily lives.

With a technology moving this fast, it's still hard to predict exactly what lies ahead.

What we do know is this: AI will continue to evolve, and how we adapt to it will help define our future.

Before we leave you tonight, I'd like to say thank you to the Seeds of Promise Homeschoolers Group, who were an amazing audience for us tonight and had lots of great questions, as I suspect you do about AI as well.

Well, that does it for us this evening.

We always appreciate your time, and I look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Good night, my friends.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) - [Announcer] A production of PBS Charlotte.