The Social Good of Automation

Automation has served us for thousands of years. It comes with the good, the bad, and the destructive. But as AI and robotics propel humanity into a future with more powerful automation, is it possible to steer it towards greater good for all?

Our belief at Ada Ventures is a resounding yes. However, the risk of harm can’t be ignored. At Ada we acknowledge that we have the privilege of optimism — we are optimistic that technology and automation have the potential to improve global living standards. We don’t believe that automation should inevitably exacerbate inequality, but this could be the eventual outcome if, as a society, we are not thoughtful about how new technologies are developed and deployed, and who is at the table when those decisions are made.

Technological progress that accelerates inequality rather than inclusivity can destabilise societies and cause harm at scale. So, there is no doubt that governments will have a significant role in setting policies that prevent rising inequality and excessive concentration of wealth. This is both an opportunity and a threat, making our mission at Ada more important than ever.

With the resurgence of AI-first startups, the capacity to automate tasks — whether that’s knowledge work, frontline duties, learning and training, or delivery of products and services — has never been greater. This makes today an exciting time to back founders who are using technology to not only automate what we’ve historically done manually, but are doing so in a way that unlocks access to economic opportunities, better work, and wellbeing for people and the planet. In this article we will share some of our thinking on this and the areas we are actively exploring.

If you’re a founder building a company with the potential to equitably accelerate human progress through automation in health, climate, or the economy, please get in touch!

Lessons from History

History is repeatedly punctuated with automations that unlocked better living standards for everyone, with the largest leaps in improvements among the underserved.

For example, the printing press eliminated the painstaking work of copying books by hand. Scribes were replaced with an automated book production process that drove the rapid advancement of global literacy rates. It democratised access to knowledge and education and made them more inclusive.

Similarly, everyday household items like the washing machine generated significant impact. This innovation turned hours of work into minutes, thereby contributing to the success of more women joining the (paid!) labour market and granting people more leisure time.

In agriculture, the introduction of tractors and combine harvesters transformed farming. These machines ended the gruelling, manual, and labour-intensive work of farmers. Automation in the field accelerated food production to feed a growing global population and freed up labour resources for other high-value activities.

Another example is the connectivity we have today. People used to manually move cords around on a switchboard to connect each phone call. But as demand for communications soared, so did the complexity of managing connections. Automation resolved this bottleneck, and although automated switchboards eventually replaced humans, the telecoms industry grew and employed millions of people. We have a more connected world with greater communication, collaboration, and shared understanding thanks to automation.

The Path Ahead

Today, advancements in software and hardware continue to make great strides in automation. We have the potential to improve outcomes more inclusively across our economies, climate, and health, as well as freeing up people to do more of what brings them joy.

For example, imagine a world where doctors can help more patients because large swaths of their administrative work have been automated. Or consider a plumber, electrician, or therapist who can serve more customers thanks to automation in their work, training, or finances.

Imagine a future where our planet is cleaner and more sustainable thanks to AI and automation in scientific and industrial endeavours. Our investment in Materials Nexus is one such example. It’s a deep-tech company that uses AI and machine learning to automate the discovery of high-performing industrial materials that are cheaper and greener. Their technology accelerates a decades-long process to months.

While automation today might conjure up images of mass job displacement, it shouldn’t bias our view against the positive case. There are many problems we can’t solve and opportunities we can’t seize without automation. Additionally, although AI will replace some jobs, researchers from the London School of Economics have highlighted evidence that automation “doesn’t just destroy jobs, it can also raise demand for other workers, and create the space for entirely new jobs.”

Additionally, the Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing finds that the new jobs that emerge with AI and automation may be of a higher quality. In other words, fair pay, reasonable hours, work that is meaningful, challenging, and which offers opportunities for growth and development.

Opportunities to build

At Ada, we are actively investing in AI-First companies at pre-seed (we have invested in three in the last three months already) and are especially interested in companies that address the following opportunities:

• Accelerating skills acquisition. An increasingly automated world will require significant agility from employees and the ability to learn new skills effectively. One example is our portfolio company Gizmo. It uses Generative AI, along with proven techniques like spaced repetition, to accelerate learning and education.
• Increasing access and affordability — We’ve also seen entrepreneurs build products for large segments of society that were previously priced out of a service or product. By using automation to reduce the costs of serving a product, businesses can offer more affordable pricing and grow their customer base. Do Not Pay and Valla are great examples of this. They democratise access to legal support and advice.
• Promoting economic prosperity — As jobs are created and destroyed, society will need new tools and platforms that alleviate income inequality. We are not yet sure what this looks like, but one area that’s interesting today includes products that eliminate the complexity of being economically productive. For instance, the Ada Ventures portfolio company OpenFormat enables creators to build a no-code web3 application in hours rather than weeks.

Our Faith in Founders

Even though every innovation comes with risks and challenges, we believe that the best founders want to build things that positively matter.

And just look at the recent flows of talent to more purpose-led companies. Over 80% of under-25s think that social impact is important when choosing a job. More than half of consumers buy from brands based on positive values — a figure that rises to nearly 90% for Gen Z consumers.

It’s hard to deny the world’s growing interest in products that do more good than harm. For these reasons, we are optimistic about the future of automation. We believe that when it is implemented with ethical structures and governance, it can be a social good, and there should be more of it.

What do some of these guardrails look like? Here’s a sample of ideas that we’re actively working on with founders:

• Examine bias in training data and models.
• Engage customers, employees, and policymakers on how to develop and deploy technology more equitably.
• Consider how technology can augment existing jobs, skills, and work satisfaction.
• Conduct ‘pre-mortems’ on how technology might cause harm at scale and consider mitigations against that.
• Explore an ethics framework early on (in the first six months of incorporation) and consider iterations along the way.

What have we missed here? Who are the most thoughtful people writing about this? Please let us know in the comments.

If you’re a founder building a company with the potential to accelerate human progress through automation in health, climate, or the economy, please get in touch!