While artificial intelligence raises some concerns, it also may hold the potential to level the playing field.

But where this playing field exists, and who experiences the leveling-out, remains up for debate. Now, new research by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology may offer insights into the ethics of AI in manufacturing, parsing out how AI might play a role in manufacturing jobs, roles, and responsibilities.

This novel research is part of Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM), a statewide program funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce in partnership with the state of Georgia. Georgia AIM is a program of Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, the Enterprise Innovation Institute. The research project is led by professors Justin Biddle and Philip Shapira of Georgia Tech’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.

What makes their research important is its perspective. Most research on AI in manufacturing involves processes, materials, or observations from a technological perspective. But this work also focuses on attitudes and experiences from employees across all areas of manufacturing, from the front office to the manufacturing floor.

“Some of the claims we hear is that AI will level the playing field for everyone. But the key is understanding how everyone is standing on that playing field in manufacturing, and how they use AI and what’s AI,” said Reeham Mohammed, the project’s current lead postdoctoral researcher. By incorporating the experiences of employees, not just C-suite executives, Mohammed and the research team can better tailor recommendations for training programs and inform the manufacturing sector about knowledge gaps.

This feeds into two larger goals of the work, said J.P. Nelson, who until recently served as the lead postdoctoral researcher on the project; Nelson is now an assistant professor at Oregon State University. One goal, he said, is to help support Georgia AIM and its technology development through materials research at Georgia Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility. The second goal is to assist in guiding the social and ethical implications associated with AI in manufacturing.

For example, as new processes and uses for AI are developed in the manufacturing sector, other questions arise — how might the new technology impact the economy? Other employees? The environment or national security?

“The research will provide some scaffolding and opportunities for researchers to think about these questions early in the game, so they will build goals and design constraints into the technology they are developing,” said Nelson.

This public values aspects of the research works in conjunction with a public engagement component involving interviews from employees throughout the manufacturing sector on how they engage with AI.

“Together with the public engagement project that we are doing right now, we are looking for ways to learn about public needs and values with respect to advanced manufacturing technologies and then integrate that knowledge back into the technology development process,” added Biddle, who directs Georgia Tech’s Ethics, Technology, and Human Interaction Center.

While most conversations about ethics and AI revolve around large language models, the researchers noted that ethics involving AI in manufacturing can pair with a much broader definition. For example, if a manufacturer develops a more efficient method to produce car seats, but the process results in seats that aren’t as safe, that raises larger public health concerns. Other questions of ethics and AI might involve national security or economics.

Manufacturing creates a strong foundation for the American economy, and the sector has driven much of the country’s economic growth for decades. One goal of Georgia AIM is to assist in distributing that growth to areas that haven’t seen as much or have been left out of technological advances.

This line of research, said Nelson, can help shed light on how new technology is adopted and the benefits it brings. Researchers expect to begin analysis of their data this fall, with initial findings released in early 2027.

“Technology creates lots of winners and losers in lots of different ways,” said Nelson. “When we’re talking about looking at the ethics of manufacturing technologies, we want to understand in what ways this technology creates winners and losers. And the answers may cut in different directions.”

For example, a community might land a factory that brings new jobs, but its presence might create environmental consequences. “Our goal is to better understand how a particular technology — in this case, AI — affects all of these different things we care about,” he said.

The team is conducting additional research to examine the societal implications of manufacturing, gaps in employee education regarding AI, and the ways in which Georgia AIM is improving fairness within the larger manufacturing climate in Georgia.