AI – The Super Bowl – From Glass Expo Hawaii

I decided to wait until after the Super Bowl to write my blog. The day started with great expectations for the New England Patriots. I thought I would have plenty to write about after the game. Since the game did not go our way, I decided to stick with talking about the commercials.

Many of those commercials brought back fond memories of past Patriots. They kept popping up all night, ad after ad. Being from Boston, I thought the Dunkin’ Donuts commercial was the best, starring almost every actor or past Patriot from New England they could find. They must have used artificial intelligence (AI) to portray them as teenagers, and I was impressed by how good they all looked, except for maybe Tom Brady.

AI commercials seemed to dominate, and like last year, you had to wait until the last five seconds of many commercials to realize they were talking about crypto. The AI commercials were interesting. They all showed what we will no longer have to do in life, but not what we will have to do to get there. It certainly made you feel that if you have not already put AI to work in your business or everyday life, you are already being left behind.

What these commercials showed me was that the glass industry doesn’t have to panic. While AI will probably make it into all our lives, it will take a lot more to replace the workers who replace windows, install curtainwall, shower doors or manufacture the products we all use.

Machines will not be able to replace real-life experiences. Glass Expo Hawaii ’26, which I attended last week, is proof of that. The local glass shops that visited, as well as the people who traveled to the event, showed their appreciation for the show and being able to meet their vendors and presenters in person. They appreciated talking to real people who could answer questions with real-world experience behind them. It shows that our industry is still based on relationships, customer service and personal touch.

Mahalo Hawaii!