DETROIT — Ford CEO Jim Farley says artificial intelligence will change or eliminate some white-collar jobs. But for Michigan workers wondering what they should do about it, an equally important question is emerging: What skills will employers need from the people who remain — and where can workers learn them?
The stakes for Michigan go well beyond Ford.
Michigan’s AI workforce strategy estimates that expanded AI adoption, infrastructure and workforce development could eventually generate up to $70 billion in economic impact and 130,000 good-paying jobs in the state.
Those are projections, not guaranteed jobs. And they highlight a central problem Michigan must solve: AI could create new occupations and economic growth at the same time it disrupts or eliminates existing jobs.
Whether Michigan workers benefit could depend heavily on how quickly employees acquire the skills employers will need.
Increasingly, that appears to mean a combination of AI literacy, technical skills and something machines have a harder time replacing — human judgment, problem solving, communication and the ability to work across disciplines.
Farley brought the issue directly into the workplace debate this week during Ford’s Accelerate the Essential Economy conference in Detroit.
“If you work in finance doing spreadsheets, or you’re in a call center, or you’re an entry-level programmer,” Farley told reporters, those jobs are “definitely going to be changed, eliminated with at least this first inning of AI.”
But Farley described AI differently for skilled-trades workers — as more of a “companion.”
The distinction may offer an important clue about where employment is heading.
The Worker Of The Future May Need Both Digital And Hands-On Skills
At Ford’s increasingly automated factories, the traditional distinction between engineers and skilled-trades employees is already beginning to disappear.
Farley said the line between manufacturing engineers and hourly skilled-trades employees has become “completely blurred” as workers interact with robotics, software and increasingly sophisticated manufacturing equipment.
Ford employs more than 10,000 skilled-trades workers in the United States, according to Business Insider, representing roughly 20% of its 56,000 UAW employees.
Those workers increasingly aren’t simply repairing mechanical equipment.
They are maintaining robots, diagnosing automated systems and working with software controlling manufacturing machinery.
Ford’s new manufacturing operations provide an example.
Farley said workers operating the massive casting machines planned for Ford’s coming electric pickup need knowledge involving software and fluid dynamics. Battery plants similarly require workers capable of maintaining highly specialized equipment.
The modern auto plant increasingly resembles a technology facility as much as the factories Michigan workers knew a generation ago.
Michigan Already Knows It Has An AI Skills Gap
Michigan’s own workforce research suggests the state has work to do.
A 2026 analysis prepared by Lightcast for the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity found that Michigan workers report AI skills at lower rates than the national average.
At the same time, employer demand for those skills is accelerating.
AI-related job demand nationally increased 120% between 2023 and 2025. It increased 162% in the Detroit region and 138% in Michigan’s Capital region, according to the state.
About 10% of Michigan’s workforce is employed in occupations with high exposure to AI, with office and administrative-support positions particularly vulnerable to having tasks transformed.
But employers aren’t simply looking for computer scientists who can build artificial-intelligence systems.
Michigan’s research found growing demand for workers combining basic AI and digital skills with:
- Data literacy
- Automation-system knowledge
- Communication
- Leadership
- Innovation
- Workflow management
- Problem solving
- Industry-specific expertise
In other words, knowing how to use AI may become increasingly similar to knowing how to use a computer: a basic workplace competency rather than a specialized occupation.
Workers Don’t Necessarily Need Another Four-Year Degree
That could be particularly important for mid-career Michigan workers worried that adapting to AI means returning to college for another degree.
It doesn’t necessarily.
Michigan has expanded AI and digital-skills training through all 16 Michigan Works! agencies, including access to Google Career Certificates.
Those programs cover areas including artificial intelligence, IT support, project management and other digital skills and don’t necessarily require a four-year degree.
Washtenaw Community College also launched an Artificial Intelligence Applications program for the fall 2026 semester, adding AI to more than 140 degree and certificate programs offered by the college.
The University of Michigan is moving farther up the skills ladder.
Michigan Engineering’s Online and Professional Education operation offers shorter certificate courses, customized corporate training and advanced degree programs involving AI.
General Motors already worked with U-M to develop a customized AI strategy program bringing together employees from engineering, manufacturing and information technology.
Participants learn about analytics and large language models and develop plans for applying AI to actual GM business problems.
The University of Detroit Mercy’s Center for Augmenting Intelligence similarly offers AI workforce retraining and upskilling, including AI literacy and practical workplace applications.
WHERE MICHIGAN WORKERS CAN GET AI AND DIGITAL TRAINING NOW
Michigan Works! — Statewide
Michigan has expanded AI and digital-skills training through all 16 Michigan Works! agencies, including access to Google Career Certificates. The programs provide workers with opportunities to develop AI and other digital skills without necessarily pursuing another four-year degree.
Washtenaw Community College — Ann Arbor
WCC launched an Artificial Intelligence Applications program for fall 2026. The college offers both degrees and shorter certificate programs, potentially making it an option for workers seeking retraining while remaining in the workforce.
University of Michigan — Ann Arbor/Online
Michigan Engineering offers professional education ranging from shorter AI courses to more intensive training involving machine learning, generative AI and large language models. U-M also develops customized AI training for employers.
Oakland Community College — Oakland County
OCC’s Data Science Certificate includes data analysis, programming and machine learning. The college says the certificate can be completed in approximately one year by students taking three courses at a time.
University of Detroit Mercy — Detroit
Detroit Mercy’s Center for Augmenting Intelligence offers AI workforce retraining and upskilling, including AI literacy and practical workplace applications. Customized programs are also available to employers.
Going PRO Talent Fund — Statewide
Michigan employers can seek state assistance to train existing and newly hired workers through the Going PRO Talent Fund. The program supports short-term training addressing documented employer skill needs and training leading to industry-recognized credentials.
Skilled Trades Could Become More Technical — And More Valuable
At the same time that AI threatens some information-based jobs, employers face the opposite problem in the skilled trades: they can’t find enough workers.
A new report released through the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades estimates employers will need to fill about 1.7 million skilled-trades openings annually through 2035 because of economic growth and workers leaving occupations.
Training programs currently produce only about 55 workers for every 100 needed, according to the alliance.
Ford helped create the alliance with BlackRock, Carhartt and Google.
The shortage encompasses electricians, industrial machinery mechanics, HVAC technicians and other occupations critical to manufacturing — and also to the construction of AI data centers and other advanced technology infrastructure.
Ford and JPMorganChase also announced $550,000 this week for Detroit-based Focus: HOPE to strengthen industrial manufacturing training involving robotics, welding and other manufacturing skills.
The Safest Skill May Be Learning How To Learn
None of this means skilled-trades jobs are immune from automation.
Robotics and AI will change factory work just as they change offices.
But Farley’s comments suggest a broader transformation may be underway.
The employee who understands manufacturing and software could become more valuable.
The accountant who understands finance and knows how to use AI to analyze information could become more valuable.
The engineer who understands AI but also knows how products are actually manufactured could become more valuable.
And the electrician or industrial technician capable of diagnosing sophisticated automated equipment could find opportunities expanding rather than disappearing.
For Michigan, that creates both a risk and an opportunity.
The state could gain new jobs from AI, data centers, advanced manufacturing and automation while simultaneously losing or transforming jobs built around tasks that AI can increasingly perform.
The critical question is whether Michigan can retrain workers fast enough to move people from the jobs being disrupted into the jobs being created.
For individual workers, therefore, the question may no longer be simply:
Will AI take my job?
A more useful question may be:
What can I learn now that allows me to work with the technology instead of competing against it?
For a state whose economy was built around workers adapting to generation after generation of manufacturing technology, that may become one of Michigan’s most important workforce questions of the AI era.
