from Hacker News

What Is Automation?

by tranchms on 1/28/20, 7:30 PM with 1 comments

A lot of economists and politicians talk about automation taking jobs away. I’m inclined to think automation creates jobs, by creating new markets.

There’s also been talk of automation decelerating. I find this counterintuitive.

How do we define automation?

Is all technology a form of automation?

  • by aiscapehumanity on 1/28/20, 7:56 PM

    Augmentation = Relationship of human to some machinic unit. The car production lines are a longer running example, but any job that maybe in the past would be all human or more human labors per machinic-object, but now the ratios change is augmentation(Perhaps this is what most things are definitely going through or at risk of). Automation = Complete replacement of human unit(s) by an automated process by machinic units.

    Technology isn't necessarily a form of automation, since human laborers can use it/operate it without meaning the loss of another human unit.

    As for what's going on, so many people throwing data and inquiries around it's hard for the average person to take time to do meta-analytics and ascertain where the trajectory is versus conjecture of decades-out and hence the two sides (automation-risk real vs automation-risk fake) end up being dogmas.

    I don't think we've seen automation itself simply generate new markets at a rate to stave off 'risk'. But I don't think we've really seen what the synthesis of automation will bring forward and there's a lot of hype. Industry itself is still trying to build plans and transition into industry 4.0, I think things will be much clearer in the next 15 years. Probably a non-answer but that's what i think.