Robot Butlers, Flying Cars, Automated Seismic Processing and Imaging – How near are we?

Like many of the promised technological marvels we may have expected by 2020, automated seismic data processing and imaging remains stubbornly out of reach. The explosion in the widespread use of ML based algorithms has the potential to significantly alter the way seismic processing and imaging projects are undertaken. However, as well as much remaining technological development there are significant non-technical barriers (often economic and psychological) that hinder the widespread adoption of these approaches. To better understand these barriers, we present three examples of recent technological development that are intended to reduce human project time and improve turnaround and discuss the path and landscape required for widespread adoption of technologies of this type.