Dispelling the Top 3 Myths of Automation

There’s a lot of questionable information and assumptions out there about automation. Since we’ve dedicated this entire newsletter to the topic, we figure it’s about time we dispel a few of them!

Here are three of the most common automation-related myths — and the facts you should know instead.

Myth 1: Automation is Taking Away Jobs

The first myth we need to discuss is about automation and jobs. Are we heading toward an AI apocalypse where humans are no longer needed, one where we’ll see massive job elimination and cataclysmic economic effects?

Not likely.

Fact: Automation is changing the job landscape, not destroying it.

Some industries and roles will see job losses, just like has happened at every stage of technological development. But that’s not always a bad thing: aren’t you glad that some 90% of humanity isn’t still toiling away at subsistence farming?

But as automation and AI technologies disrupt some jobs and job functions, they will create new opportunities. There will be greater need for people who work with or alongside these technologies and greater need for those who can build them.

And the good news is that these new jobs and functions will tend to be higher paying, better compensated jobs than the ones that get eliminated.

We’re not saying that every last detail will work out perfectly. But on the whole, we expect automation to create unprecedented efficiency and productivity — and to create new jobs along the way.

Myth 2: Automation and AI Are the Same

We see people using these terms in similar contexts, and they can start to seem interchangeable. But is that really the case?

No.

Fact: Automation and AI are often used together, but they are different and distinct concepts.

Automation is the streamlining of repetitive tasks. Think of how a robot can bolt the same piece of metal onto a vehicle frame: the right technology and automation programming can do this practically nonstop, with no fatigue—and it doesn’t get injured or need lunch breaks.

On the IT side of things, automation works along similar lines: computers can be programmed to follow repeatable steps automatically. For example, if this newsletter reached you via email, you benefited from some kind of automation. (No one sat down at their computer, manually typed in your email address, manually typed out this newsletter, and then hit “send”!)

AI, on the other hand, is a broad term for technologies that can learn and make decisions independently, usually in human-like ways. Take the email example: an AI system might analyze multiple factors about a new lead and make a sort of judgment call on which set of emails (an automated email sequence) to send them. The AI is making the decision and then implementing a preprogrammed automation.

Myth 3: Automation Makes Us Over-reliant on Technology

Here’s the fear embedded in this myth: Will we become so reliant on automations that we lose the ability to function without them?

Again, we think the answer is no.

Fact: Automations are more like shortcuts than crutches.

Quick: what’s 12 times 4?

What’s the capital of your state or province?

How many quarters in a dollar? In 5 dollars?

You know the answer to each of these questions instantly, no thought required.

Why? Because your brain already automated them.

Memorizing that 12 x 4 = 48 is a sort of automation. Yes, it’s important to know why it’s true and how it’s true, but you don’t need to rework the equation every single time.

Automations are in a way the same concept, taken to new levels. By automating the basic stuff (that we already know how to do), we free ourselves to focus on more important aspects of life and work.