The Ford Motor Company has been hiring humans again after finding that artificial intelligence (AI) could not match the expertise of experienced technicians.
Over the past three years, the second-largest U.S.-based automaker reportedly said it rehired more than 300 “veteran” quality inspectors, including former Ford employees and engineers from other automotive suppliers, after automated systems fell short.
“Over prior years, we didn’t pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles,” Ford Vice President of Vehicle Hardware Engineering Charles Poon said to reporters.
Ford’s renewed emphasis on experienced engineers coincided with improved vehicle quality. It ranked first among mainstream brands in the 2026 JD Power U.S. Initial Quality Study after placing 15th in 2023, a turnaround Ford has attributed to its renewed focus on experienced engineers.
The human employees were tasked with conducting mandatory weekly design reviews, identifying potential failure points in blueprints, and serving as internal auditors.
Ford had previously embraced AI across its operations. CEO Jim Farley predicted the technology would “leave a lot of white collar people behind,” while Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhorta said AI would be used “across the entire industrial system.”
Ford’s plans included installing 900 AI-powered cameras in manufacturing plants and expanding AI-assisted engineering tools meant to tackle “quality issues” in the production process. But Poon said those systems fell short.
“Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that would produce a high-quality product,” Poon said.
Poon said AI remains “a fantastic tool,” but emphasized the technology is “only as good as the information you use to train it.”
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