Over the summer of 2024, the International Society of Automation (ISA) announced a large language model (LLM) trained on ISA content and powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Called MimoSM, this LLM draws from all things ISA-related to answer user questions, including ISA standards, training, technical reports, white papers, articles and presentations. It is also versed in technical topics related to industrial automation and operational technology (OT) cybersecurity. Mimo can accept questions and generate answers in multiple languages — and when we launched it, we hoped this LLM would serve as a useful resource for automation professionals around the world.
So — looking back on the first few months — how is Mimo doing?
Mimo's Extraordinary Summer
Well, it's been more than a full quarter since we announced Mimo to the ISA community, and based on the data we're seeing, we're proud to say ISA members and other automation professionals are indeed getting the answers they need from Mimo. Lots of them.
During July 2024 — the first full month of Mimo's wide release — Mimo answered roughly 4,000 prompts. According to Betty Bot, ISA's partner in building Mimo, that's eight times (yes, 8x) the prompts a typical association knowledge assistant can expect to see upon launch. August and September leveled off with around 2,000 prompts each month, again much higher than most association knowledge assistants. (This is our most current data to date.)
Mimo has also answered questions in at least eight languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Persian. After English, the most common language used to address Mimo is Spanish. It is clear that users from many backgrounds are getting value from this tool.
And people are noticing. Rob Barnes, CEO of Betty Bot, spoke about Mimo's success story at the ISA Automation Summit & Expo 2024. ISA's managing director of IT Jason Wampler has been invited to present for multiple webinars and conferences like .orgSource Solutions Day. Mimo has even drawn media attention outside the automation space with a dedicated article from "Associations Now." Mimo has become a case study on how to get a knowledge assistant right.
How Do You Use Mimo?
If you haven't tried Mimo yet, visit www.isa.org/mimo to type in your question about industrial automation. (Just a note: all answers are considered to be non-authoritative and for educational purposes only.)
If you have used Mimo, what questions have you asked? According to data from the first full quarter of wide release, it's helping people:
- Prepare for the Certified Automation Professional (CAP) exam with example questions and answers provided in multiple languages
- Get detailed summaries of ISA standards like ISA/IEC 62443 and ISA-88
- Locate specific clauses within ISA standards for easy reference
- Define automation terms like hybrid control, threat analysis, interposing relay, OPC-UA, PID and many more
- Create a table comparing key aspects of PLC, SCADA and DCS
- Learn about the logistics of individual ISA training and certificate programs
- Find answers to thousands of other requests
Where Does Mimo Find Its Answers?
Mimo was trained on years of ISA-exclusive content on industrial automation and OT cybersecurity, including proprietary documents. It has access to everything from ISA standards to archives of presentations and technical reports. (Otherwise, you can only find many of these documents by searching in ISA's Pub Hub, the member-only content portal.)
It's important to note that Mimo cites its sources, linking directly to the standard, article or report from which it derives its answers. Most LLMs don't do this, but Mimo allows users to research further if they choose.
Mimo also accepts feedback on its responses — users can click "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" icons below each answer, and an additional dialog box will open where users can share their thoughts. Mimo learns from these interactions, allowing responses to improve over time.
Get the Most Out of Mimo
You will benefit the most from Mimo by becoming an ISA member. When members are logged in, Mimo's responses will be more detailed. If you are not a member or are not logged in, you will still be able to use the tool, but the answers you get will be brief and to the point. Also, non-members can only ask a few questions per day, while ISA members have unlimited access.
You can ask Mimo anything about industrial automation and OT cybersecurity at www.isa.org/mimo.
