The Essence of Automation: Human Genius Creates Possibilities

Since the automated teller machine’s introduction 45 years ago, the number of human bank tellers in the United States doubled from 250,000 to 500,000. In the face of overwhelming automation, why did teller jobs increase? Contrary to popular belief, automation magnifies the importance of human expertise, judgment, and creativity.

Economist David Autor from MIT explains that human genius helps us adapt to change. With cash dispensing delegated to ATMs, banks invented ways to put tellers to good use. Human-centric customer service, and the loyalty it creates, is now a fundamental business success factor.

In other words, in the era of ATM automation, bankers’ genius made success more dependent on humans.

This idea applies to almost all automation: patient care, teaching, even Tesla and their automated manufacturing facilities.

The second factor is what Autor calls the Never Get Enough principle. It’s the subject of tomorrow’s post.

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