Partner Partner Content AI Revolution: Disruption today, growth tomorrow for Detroit’s workforce

AI is not just a buzzword. It is a force already reshaping the city’s economic landscape. Much of the national conversation has centered on job disruption, and it is a valid concern. Earlier this year, several leading technology companies announced significant job cuts as they increased investment in AI capabilities. 

These dynamics raise the question: If AI can perform more tasks at lower cost, what does that mean for employment, consumer demand and the broader economy?

Recent analysis from Jacob Manoukian, J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s U.S. Head of Investment Strategy, provides important context.

In his piece “Jobs in the AI Revolution: Disruption Today, Growth Tomorrow,” Manoukian argues that while AI will displace certain tasks, the broader pattern will likely mirror past technological shifts. Throughout history, from the steam engine to electricity to the mainframe computer, innovation has initially displaced workers, but ultimately expanded industries, created new roles, and delivered powerful waves of productivity growth. His piece highlights that early adoption tends to create the impression of destruction, while the full economic cycle typically produces reinvention, new demand, and broader opportunity.

Our 2026 Global Investment Outlook echoes this theme. The AI investment boom already accounts for roughly 1% of U.S. GDP, and historical comparisons suggest that could double. AI is driving down the marginal cost of cognition, much as past technologies lowered the costs of transportation, power, and information processing. When those costs fell, demand surged, new industries emerged, and productivity growth accelerated.

What Detroit can expect

In cities across the U.S.,  the impact of AI is already visible across key sectors such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, energy, and education. Hospitals and research centers are pioneering new diagnostic tools and supporting better clinical decisions. On the factory floor, smart automation is being adopted to improve efficiency, enhance precision, and streamline production processes in industries like pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and food manufacturing.

Financial institutions across the country are also exploring AI-driven ways to simplify operations and manage risk more effectively, while energy companies are leveraging data and machine-learning models to help optimize output and improve reliability. At the same time, leading universities are driving much of this innovation, helping to connect research, industry, and talent.

Early research suggests that many of these AI applications focus on augmentation rather than full automation, supporting workers in their roles instead of replacing them entirely. Humans still retain an advantage in areas such as common sense, emotional intelligence, dexterity and adaptive learning, which remain difficult for AI to replicate. 

The road ahead

Historically, technological breakthroughs have reduced costs, expanded demand and driven long periods of productivity growth. AI is beginning to replicate this pattern by lowering the cost of expertise and enabling companies to accomplish more with fewer resources. As organizations reinvest AI-driven efficiencies into new capabilities, Detroit could see growth in new types of roles, businesses and services that do not yet exist today.

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