Why Even AI-Powered Factories Will Have Jobs for Humans

A global study of more than 1,000 companies at the forefront of implementing AI systems found that the greatest performance gains are achieved not when machines are used to replace employees, but when they are deployed to work alongside them. Ironically, even in the factory of the future, humans may be needed now more than ever. In such collaborative relationships, people help machines become better, and machines enable people to achieve step-level increases in performance. That means that traditional jobs will need to be extended to encompass new tasks and that entirely new categories of jobs will be created. Just as the internet revolution ushered in completely novel jobs — for example, web designer and search-engine optimization engineer — so will the new era of AI. Significant new investments in reskilling will be required. As the need for employee training increases, some companies will collaborate with outside partners and government agencies. Others have begun to develop their own certification programs to help employees acquire the knowledge and expertise they’ll need.