Thinking about automation

Each day at work, I talk with my team about how to automate tasks to make life easier and more consistent. These are good conversations and often lead us to think more about what we’re doing in general. They make us think about the “why” of what we are doing, and not just the “how”.

The news is full of people talking about AI, automation, and how the world is changing. It’s a fun and interesting set of thoughts that feels very much like the future. It makes me think about how I can use automation and technology to improve the world.

With all of this talk, I’m having a philosophical debate internally about automation and its affects on society. It’s a topic that’s much larger than I can even grasp. It’s bigger than me, and scares me. But it’s also forcing me to think more, and I like being challenged so I won’t dismiss it.

Personally, I think automation will change our lives for the better in the long-term, but may make some of our lives more difficult in the short-term. It also opens up a lot of questions.

This post is a challenge to think about the everyday things happening around you due to automation and to consider the ramifications for good or bad in each. It’s a call to not get lost in the “fun” of the technology at the expense of personal values. This is a practical review of some daily things that I encounter in automation.

I love the Wal-Mart grocery pickup (and soon delivery) option. They have been able to automate their inventory and processes to allow me to place an order on my phone and specify a time the next day to pick up all of items I ordered without ever going in the store. It works most of time, and as a family with 2 kids and limited time, it is a great option that saves us time and dollars.

Before the service was created, I had almost entirely stopped shopping at Walmart. I was tired of the way they treat their employees and small businesses, and had voted my dislike by not spending with them. But then they offered a service (powered by automation) that’s convenience overpowered my personal stand.

If you ever have to actually call American Airlines, they have a feature on their automated line that matches your cell phone number to your account, and then gives you tailored information about your relationship with them (think updates on the current flight you are waiting for). Then it allows you to get an agent faster based on your program status without ever having to enter or say much of anything. It’s worked great for me for years.

But now it doesn’t work. I’m using the same phone number and my profile is all correct online. I have talked to agents, and they don’t know why it doesn’t work, and have no idea how to get it fixed, or even who to point me to. So I’ve given up, and just deal with the extra steps that automation had taken away. Automation feels great until it doesn’t work.

I recently had shoulder surgery and started going to an orthopedic clinic for care and therapy. It’s a decent office that is generally very efficient. They see a lot of patients — hundreds a day sometimes — and they recently introduced an iPad-based kiosk system for self check-in that is fast and easy.

I was initially apprehensive about using the iPad check-in. I’m not sure why. I’m tech savvy and they are iPads. Easy. But if I was worried, how were non-technical people feeling about it? Uneasy? Terrified?

I already felt a little like a number in this clinic, and the introduction of tablets took this to another level. After I walk in, I don’t interact with a human until I see the triage nurse. My guess is she is the next target for automation. Makes sense, I guess. But I don’t feel very human when I go through the check-in.

In each of these examples there are advantages from automation. There were also some very negative outcomes to the introduction of automation. In the Walmart example I sold my values short for the convenience of automation. In the airline example, I felt betrayed as a consumer because I lost the convenience of automation. For the doctor example, I got the efficiency of automation at the loss of human interaction (and maybe someone’s job).

Automation at the core is not good or bad, it’s just a tool. But I think my inner debate about the ramifications of automation will continue and pushes me to consider how quickly I embrace new automation as it’s introduced.