From steam engines to conveyor-belt assembly lines and robots on the factory floor, the manufacturing industry has long been a pioneer of new technologies. Artificial intelligence now looks set to become the next and, perhaps, biggest leap forward. But what will it mean for jobs over the next decade? Manufacturing is already highly automated, with sensors, software and computer networks monitoring the output, data, pressure and temperature of factory machines and industrial processes.
” Eventually, robots equipped with artificial general intelligence — the same level of intelligence as a human — will be capable of designing and making things, Rose predicts. “You could ask a sufficiently powerful AGI to design a new battery and then manufacture it.” Adding AI to manufacturing robots — which do not demand pay rises or go on strike — has the potential to make millions of traditional manufacturing roles redundant.