AI’s $16 trillion problem: It still isn’t working on the factory floor

Why artificial intelligence isn’t fulfilling its potential in manufacturing and how that could change soon. In theory, AI should have transformed manufacturing by now. From predictive maintenance and fatigue detection to real-time quality control, the promise has always been smarter, faster, and safer operations. But in practice, the factory floor is still a place where AI ambitions often run into real-world limitations.