The insight that automation accelerates human judgment, rather than replacing it, is a crucial one. This is because automation frees up professionals to focus on high-value tasks that require complex decision-making. The mechanism behind this is that automation takes over repetitive and mundane tasks, allowing professionals to devote more time to tasks that require creativity, empathy, and critical thinking. For example, a 12-person support team that automated its ticket routing system was able to reduce response time to 2 minutes, but then found that escalations tripled as customers' complex issues were being funneled to human agents. This highlights the nuance that automation can actually increase the demand for human judgment, rather than decreasing it.
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What Automation Actually Accelerates?
Most professionals assume automation slows down human judgment.
If professionals ignore this insight, they may inadvertently automate away the very tasks that make their jobs valuable and indispensable.
Furthermore, as automation continues to advance, the ability to work effectively with automated systems will become a key differentiator for professionals, making it essential to develop skills that complement automation.
The concept of automation accelerating human judgment is rooted in the idea of "augmentation" rather than replacement. This concept was first introduced by computer scientist J.C.R. Licklider in the 1960s, who envisioned a future where humans and machines would collaborate to solve complex problems. As automation continues to advance, it's essential to understand the mechanisms behind this concept and how it can be applied in various industries.
A key nuance to consider is that automation can also create new types of work that didn't exist before, such as AI training data annotation or automation maintenance. This highlights the need for professionals to be adaptable and willing to learn new skills that complement automation.