Predicting a Future Where the Future Is Routinely Predicted

Artificial intelligence systems will be able to give managers real-time insights about their business operations -- as well as detect early warnings of problems before they occur. This article is part of an MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. Editor's Note: This article is one of a special series of 14 commissioned essays MIT Sloan Management Review is publishing to celebrate the launch of our new Frontiers initiative. Each essay gives the author's response to this question: "Within the next five years, how will technology change the practice of management in a way we have not yet witnessed?" Workers on the factory floor have suddenly gathered at a point along the production line.