Ford rehires human engineers after AI fails in quality control

Ford, one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, has taught a lesson many in the tech industry would rather not hear: artificial intelligence is not always the solution. The American company has been forced to rehire more than 350 veteran engineers —whom they affectionately call “the grey beards”— after finding that the AI systems it had put in charge of quality control were not up to the task. The algorithms failed time and again to detect defects that a trained human eye spotted instantly.The problem is no small one. Ford had invested millions in modernizing its factories with machine vision and machine learning systems to inspect parts, welds and finishes. The promise was clear: faster machines, no fatigue, no errors. But reality was very different. The AI made mistakes in situations it had never seen before, confused reflections with cracks, and overlooked small defects that, on the assembly line, could translate into serious problems later on. In the words of a company spokesman, “AI is only as good as the people who use it”.What does this mean for the rest of us? That artificial intelligence is not going to replace us as quickly as some predict. In tasks that require accumulated experience, judgment and the ability to adapt to the unexpected, the human factor remains irreplaceable. That said, the lesson is not that AI is useless, but that it must coexist with professionals, not replace them. Ford has learned this the hard way: when they tried to save on engineers, they ended up needing them more than ever.— Marta, for intermittent intelligence.