That’s the question we hear time and time again from our customers on behalf of their people. And every time, we emphasize the same point: AI is meant to be labor-serving, not labor-saving.

Henry Ford – founder of the 121-year-old Ford Motor company – addressed a similar concern a century ago. As the mechanized, automated assembly lines revolutionized industries, many feared machines would replace workers entirely.

In 1930 [1], Ford put it plainly:

For unless machinery is labor-serving, it has no excuse for being

We see the same fears today with AI. Some predict that artificial intelligence will inevitably take over many human jobs, leaving workers with no place in the economy. But history tells a different story.

When stronger, faster, higher-powered machines emerged in the early 20th century, it didn’t eliminate work — it transformed it. Businesses became more productive, industries expanded, and new jobs emerged that were previously unimaginable. Furthermore, the new jobs required more human intelligence, not less.

Ford also noted that the power generated to run the machines by itself, is meaningless. You need people to extract the benefits from the abundance of power through the use of machines.

The same applies to AI today. The raw computing power of modern AI chips is useless unless it’s used to develop algorithms that enhance human productivity, helping people perform their jobs better, not eliminating them.

That said, of course some tasks and jobs will be fully automated by artificial intelligence — but only where automation makes sense. A good rule of thumb is this: if a task requires no judgment, no creativity, and no decision-making, then it’s better handled by AI. There’s no point in having a person spend time on repetitive, mindless tasks when they could be focusing on higher-value work — work that requires out of the box thinking, intuition, problem-solving, or relationship-building.

For MTS AI Solutions , AI isn’t about saving labor cost, reducing payroll size, or replacing workers with algorithms. It’s about giving your people better tools to do what they do best. And as history has shown, when we use technology to serve labor rather than replace it, industries don’t shrink — they grow.

[1] Ford, H. (1930). Moving forward. Doubleday, Doran & Company.