Carl Benedikt Frey’s New York Times commentary piece warns about AI, echoing past fears of the 1970s, when factories closed and cities like Detroit took the hit. He points to Boston’s wins and Detroit’s losses as proof that brainpower beats muscle in today’s world. But that view is too narrow. Once AI leaves the lab, Detroit’s strengths matter more than Boston’s.
Boston has Harvard and MIT. No one doubts their brainpower or their skill for research. These schools produce brilliant thinkers and innovative ideas. But turning ideas into things that work in the real world takes more than brains. It takes the know-how to build, test, and scale up. Detroit has been doing that for over a hundred years.
Think about what happens when AI steps off the screen. Self-driving cars need real assembly lines. Smart factories need real plants, not just code. Robots with AI must integrate seamlessly into real-world supply chains. Detroit knows how to make millions of complex machines run day after day. Boston writes about these things. Detroit builds them.
Detroit’s auto industry learned hard lessons from global competition. Those lessons now give Detroit a leg up as AI moves from theory to practice. While Boston hosts debates, Detroit’s workers know how machines work on the ground. They know which sensors break first, where jams form, and how to fix things when the clock says 3 a.m. and the line can’t stop.
Money counts, too. In Boston, a startup can burn through its cash just keeping the lights on in a pricey Cambridge office. That same money in Detroit pays for double the space, more engineers, and actual tools. Lower costs allow Detroit companies to try new things and fail faster—a must for genuine innovation. When every dollar matters, Detroit’s budget lets teams take risks that Boston’s rent won’t allow.
Location matters as well. Detroit sits in the middle of North America’s industrial heart. Chicago, Toronto, Cleveland, and Milwaukee are close by. Together, this region makes more money than Germany’s whole economy. Boston may have fast ties to finance, but Detroit connects to the farms, factories, and delivery networks where AI will make the biggest mark.
The Great Lakes region is more than a place on the map. It has the power grids, roads, and skilled workers needed to make AI work in the real world. These are not just nice extras—they are must-haves when you want to go from theory to practice. Venture capital is good, but it won’t keep the lights on in a smart factory.
Some say Boston’s tech boom proves that knowledge work belongs on the coasts. They forget Detroit once led the world in new ideas, too. The difference now? Detroit learned from its past. The city recognizes that lasting success requires more than just bright ideas. You need to be able to build at scale.
Boston is great at creating AI. Detroit is great at making things that last. As AI shifts from research to daily life, the skills that built America’s car industry will matter more than the degrees that fill journals. The cities that can turn bright ideas into real products will win the future.
The next big wave in industry won’t come from ivory towers. It will come from factory floors, where workers are familiar with both the latest code and the oldest machines. Detroit’s mix of know-how, lower costs, and strong location puts it ahead of cities that only theorize. Frey should look past today’s headlines. Tomorrow’s AI winners will be those who can build, not just think.
