What should we automate
November 10, 2014
A brief opinion of what should we prioritise for automation
As Marc Andreessen said in 2011, "Software is eating the world." As the years go by, it is becoming more and more clear what that software-eaten world is going to look like.
Recent kerfuffle about AI - lots of specialized software that is already better than humans - the best chess player is a computer and will always be, best Go player as well. Air traffic control, defense systems, nuclear plants are all controlled by software. But they are each an isolated piece. The chess playing software cannot yet do air traffic control. Can they be combined?
Benefits
Recently, there has been attempts of automated cargo trucks and cargo ships. What are the benefits of these automation? Are they worth automating? Typically, the answer is It will save human labour cost or it may increase safety or allow us to process more volume.
What should be automated
What things are actually worth automating? Human error is a big risk. So anything that minimizes error is worth automating
Recent kerfuffle about AI - lots of specialized software that is already better than humans - the best chess player is a computer and will always be, best Go player as well. Air traffic control, defense systems, nuclear plants are all controlled by software. But they are each an isolated piece. The chess playing software cannot yet do air traffic control. Can they be combined?
Benefits
Recently, there has been attempts of automated cargo trucks and cargo ships. What are the benefits of these automation? Are they worth automating? Typically, the answer is It will save human labour cost or it may increase safety or allow us to process more volume.
What should be automated
What things are actually worth automating? Human error is a big risk. So anything that minimizes error is worth automating
What should not be automated
Anything where human judgment or human i.e. emotional touch is required, should not be automated. Customer service is one such example although unfortunately, it is being automated speedily. Healthcare diagnosis is another example that should retain some human touch. Although in all of these, the human workers can be aided by automation so that their efficiency is increased.