'We are in a fight for humanity': United Auto Workers president says AI is a 'profound threat' — and not just for jobs in his industry

Less than two months later, two car companies have announced plans to add AI-powered humanoid robots to their car plants.

“If you have a humanoid form, you can pretty much set it to any workplace where a human is working today because it has the same size and same capabilities,” said Michael Nikolaides, head of process management and digitalization at BMW, to BBC.

BMW is one of the companies planning to add humanoid to their plants’ production lines; Hyundai is the other. Boston Dynamics, the creator of the Atlas robots Hyundai plans to use, describes them as “the new face of industrial automation.”

Here’s why unions are upset — and what we can expect from AI automation across different sectors going forward.

BMW and Hyundai both moving towards adding humanoid robots to factories — despite protests from the latter’s unions

BMW has already added humanoid robots to one of their plants in the United States. Now it’s bringing its humanoid robot pilot program to one of its German plants.

“For the first time, the BMW Group is now bringing Physical AI to Europe,” it said in its press release on the subject.

Each of these pilot programs were small in scope; the US plant has so far tested two different humanoid robots, and the German plant will also test two robots.

Hyundai’s plans are far broader. It hopes to produce 30,000 humanoid robots annually starting in 2028, deploying those robots first in Georgia and then around the world.

Hyundai’s plant in Georgia is not currently unionized, although the USW is attempting to organize its workers. But its South Korean plants are unionized, and union leaders are reportedly not happy.

According to Reuters, Hyundai Motor’s labor union sent an internal letter warning against going ahead with humanoid robots without consulting the union first. The letter said that Hyundai was hoping to use the robots to reduce its workforce, reducing labor costs and boosting profits.

The Hyundai Motor union is currently on partial strike, though Hyundai leadership says the strike doesn’t have anything to do with the humanoid robots. The Wall Street Journal reports that Byun Jun-hwan, the union’s secretary general, says the union “[has] to prepare to ensure there are safeguards in place.”

Other sectors also face job loss due to AI and automation

The auto industry is far from the only sector facing automation concerns. For example, autonomous vehicles are starting to replace services like Uber and Lyft — leaving already-struggling gig workers out of a job.

In unionized sectors, union leaders have started to push for increased worker protections on how and when companies use AI and automation.