A Future of Automation

Automation and its effects have fascinated me ever since I came across the concept years ago. I saw gradual implementation of technology across the various sectors over the years. In the early 2010s, I worked at Somerset and 313@Somerset was a usual lunchtime haunt for workers around the area. One day, I spotted several touchscreen machines in a Yoshinoya outlet.

It was right there and then, I told myself that we would see touchscreen machines in fast food restaurant across the nation.

That has largely been true to a good extent. That memory imprinted itself onto me so strongly. Till today, I remember the day I stood on the escalator headed for the basement. Where a chap would hawk for customers then, no such voice blared out from the restaurant now.

Today, touchscreen machines are a common sight in fast food restaurants. I do not doubt that more restaurants will follow suit.

But, this post is about automation. Recently, I have been binging on content from YouTube channel: Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. They touched on this very topic. This video is a must-watch for anybody remotely interested in automation.

Automation is different this time. How we adapt to unprecedented technological change will alter the course of humanity and history. At this stage, I believe that we are ill-equipped to comprehend the scale of change which automation brings. I choose to however, believe that human beings need to adopt and scale together with technological change.