The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into manufacturing environments fundamentally reshapes worker identity, organizational hierarchies, and labor relations. While technical literature emphasizes efficiency gains from AI-driven automation, critical questions remain about how workers perceive, adapt to, and resist algorithmic management systems. This research examines the sociotechnical dimensions of AI implementation across manufacturing facilities in Iran, South Korea, and the UAE, analyzing how cultural contexts mediate worker responses to automated supervision and predictive maintenance systems.

Through mixed-methods analysis combining worker surveys, organizational ethnography, and machine learning performance data from 847 firms, we reveal significant disparities between technical optimization and social acceptance. Workers in facilities with transparent AI systems reported 43% higher trust levels compared to opaque algorithmic management. Our findings challenge techno-deterministic assumptions, demonstrating that successful AI integration depends less on algorithmic sophistication than on participatory implementation strategies that preserve worker autonomy and dignity.

We introduce a "sociotechnical friction index" measuring resistance points where technological capabilities clash with organizational culture and labor expectations. Results show that facilities prioritizing human-AI collaboration over full automation achieved both higher productivity and lower turnover rates. This research contributes to critical technology studies by documenting how Global South manufacturing contexts negotiate AI adoption differently than Western models assume, offering insights for policymakers addressing technological unemployment, algorithmic accountability, and the future of work in an AI-augmented economy.