IT之家 10 月 1 日消息，福特汽车 CEO 吉姆 · 法利认为，AI 不会绕过蓝领工人，但也未必会大规模取代他们。
当地时间 9 月 30 日，据《财富》杂志报道，法利称，AI 进入工厂、维修车间和各类工艺岗位后，更多会成为工人的“搭档”：帮他们处理更复杂的工作、更快掌握技能，也协助企业缓解工艺工人严重短缺的难题。
法利进一步解释道：“我认为，大多数这类岗位都会用上 AI，同时也不会轻易被 AI 取代。但如果你在财务部门做表格，在呼叫中心上班，或者是一名初级程序员，那么至少在这一轮 AI 发展的初期，这些岗位肯定会发生变化，有些还会消失。”
在法利看来，AI 首先冲击的更可能是重复性强、主要坐在电脑前完成、流程高度标准化的知识型工作，而不是电工、工艺员、维修技师和工厂技工。
AI、自动化和软件同样会改变这些工艺岗位，但判断设备出了什么难题、依据现场情况作出决定，以及在复杂设备周围安全作业，仍然需要人来完成。
在福特内部，这种转变已经发生。公司超 1 万名技工过去主要维护输送线和其他机械平台；现在的工作内容逐步扩展到维修机器人、处理光纤、维护自动化设备，以及参与数字化程度日益增加的制造作业。
法利称，新型汽车工厂里的技工和工程师正越来越难以区分：“现在已经很难看出，在这些新的生产环境里，工程师或者制造工程师的工作到哪里结束，技工的工作又从哪里开始。”
福特的新型制造业务中，技工或需维护大型机器人铸造设备、规格数字化生产流程，也可能负责排查电池生产设备的故障。IT之家从报道中获悉，一部分电池设备的维护工作已变得更像半导体工厂里的工作，而不是传统汽车工厂里的维修作业。
福特也在用 AI 和增强现实工艺协助技师修车。法利举了一个例子：从福特 Super Duty 皮卡上拆下发动机可能需要两天，而且整辆车都要大规模拆解。
当下，Ford Pro 则可以用 AI 指导从没做过这项工作的经销商技师，让他们更快完成维修。“要拆一辆 Super Duty，光把发动机拿出来差不多就得两天，整辆车基本都拆开了。很多人不会干这个。笔者会让 AI 告诉他们，‘好，先做这个，再做那个。’他们都是好技师，只是不知道这项工作具体怎么做，因为以前没干过。”
本文来源：https://www.ithome.com/1/009/073.htm
若有版权问题，请来信告知：13951431913#139.com 或在右方提交评论。
IT Home reported on October 1 that Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley believes AI will not bypass blue-collar workers, but it may not necessarily replace them on a large scale either.
On September 30 local time, according to Fortune magazine, Farley said that after AI enters factories, repair shops, and various craft positions, it will more often become a "partner" for workers: helping them handle more complex work, master skills faster, and also helping companies alleviate the severe shortage of craft workers.
Farley further explained: "I think most of these jobs will use AI, and they will not be easily replaced by AI. But if you do spreadsheets in a finance department, work at a call center, or are a junior programmer, then at least in the early stages of this round of AI development, those jobs will definitely change, and some will disappear."
In Farley's view, AI is more likely to first hit knowledge-based jobs that are highly repetitive, mainly done while sitting in front of a computer, and highly standardized in process, rather than electricians, process technicians, maintenance technicians, and factory mechanics.
AI, automation, and software will also change these craft jobs, but diagnosing what is wrong with equipment, making decisions based on site conditions, and working safely around complex equipment still need to be done by humans.
Inside Ford, this shift is already happening. The company's more than 10,000 technicians previously mainly maintained conveyor lines and other mechanical platforms; now their work is gradually expanding to repairing robots, handling fiber optics, maintaining automated equipment, and participating in increasingly digitalized manufacturing operations.
Farley said that technicians and engineers in new auto plants are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish: "Now it is hard to see where the work of an engineer or manufacturing engineer ends and where the work of a technician begins in these new production environments."
In Ford's new manufacturing operations, technicians may need to maintain large robotic casting equipment, specify digital production processes, or troubleshoot battery production equipment. IT Home learned from the report that maintenance work on some battery equipment has already become more like work in a semiconductor factory than repair work in a traditional auto plant.
Ford is also using AI and augmented reality processes to assist technicians in repairing vehicles. Farley gave an example: removing the engine from a Ford Super Duty pickup could take two days, and the entire vehicle needs to be extensively disassembled.
Currently, Ford Pro can use AI to guide dealer technicians who have never done this work before, allowing them to complete the repair faster. "To take apart a Super Duty, just getting the engine out takes about two days, and basically the whole truck is disassembled. Many people don't know how to do this. I would let AI tell them, 'OK, do this, then do that.' They are all good technicians, they just don't know how to do this specific job because they haven't done it before."