DETROIT, United States- Ford Motor Company has rehired about 350 experienced engineers after admitting that its artificial intelligence-powered quality systems failed to match the expertise of seasoned human workers in detecting manufacturing defects.
The US automaker said the move followed lessons learned from relying too heavily on AI and automated quality control tools, which it acknowledged were unable to replicate the judgment and institutional knowledge built up by veteran engineers over decades.
Speaking to reporters, Ford Vice President of Vehicle Hardware Engineering Charles Poon said the company had underestimated the importance of experienced engineers in maintaining product quality.
“Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it’s only as good as the information you use to train it,” Poon said.
“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.”
Poon said Ford had mistakenly assumed that feeding design requirements into AI systems would automatically result in higher-quality vehicles.
“Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that that would produce a high-quality product,” he said.
Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra said the company had increasingly relied on automated quality systems before deciding to bring back technical specialists to identify potential problems before parts reached the production line.
The returning engineers, some former Ford employees and others recruited from supplier companies, have been tasked with mentoring younger staff, strengthening design reviews and improving the AI tools rather than replacing them.
Ford said the hybrid approach has already produced results.
The company recently topped the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Initial Quality Study among mainstream vehicle brands for the first time in 16 years, while also reporting lower warranty and recall costs.
The announcement comes as companies across industries continue investing heavily in artificial intelligence to improve productivity and reduce costs.
Ford’s experience is likely to fuel the ongoing debate over whether AI can replace highly skilled professionals or is most effective when used alongside experienced human workers.