Automation

In general usage, automation can be defined as a technology concerned with performing a process by
means of programmed commands combined with automatic feedback control to ensure proper
execution of the instructions. The resulting system is capable of operating without human
intervention. The development of this technology has become increasingly dependent on the use of
computers and computer-related technologies. Consequently, automated systems have become
increasingly sophisticated and complex. Advanced systems represent a level of capability and
performance that surpass in many ways the abilities of humans to accomplish the same activities.

If you think about it, many of the great inventions of the last 200 years were designed to replace
human labor. Tractors were developed to substitute mechanical power for human physical toil.
Assembly lines were engineered to replace inconsistent human handiwork with machine perfection.
Computers were programmed to swap out error-prone, inconsistent human calculation with digital
perfection. These inventions have worked: We no longer dig ditches by hand, pound tools out of
wrought iron or do bookkeeping using actual books. And yet, the fraction of US adults employed in
the labor market is higher now in 2016 than it was in 1890, and it’s risen in just about every decade
in the intervening 125 years. This poses a paradox.

Our machines increasingly do our work for us. But the reason there are still so many jobs can be
explained by two fundamental economic principles: one has to do with human genius and creativity;
and the other has to do with human insatiability, or greed, if you like. However, this doesn’t mean
we’ll always have plenty of jobs. Automation creates wealth by allowing us to do more work in less
time.