Editing Automation (section)

===Limitations===
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2019}}
* Current technology is unable to automate all the desired tasks.
* Many operations using automation have large amounts of invested capital and produce high volumes of products, making malfunctions extremely costly and potentially hazardous. Therefore, some personnel is needed to ensure that the entire system functions properly and that safety and product quality are maintained.<ref>{{cite book |title=Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and Their Impact on the Workplace |url=https://www.ibanet.org/Document/Default.aspx?DocumentUid=c06aa1a3-d355-4866-beda-9a3a8779ba6e}}</ref>
* As a process becomes increasingly automated, there is less and less labor to be saved or quality improvement to be gained. This is an example of both [[diminishing returns]] and the [[logistic function]].
* As more and more processes become automated, there are fewer remaining non-automated processes. This is an example of the exhaustion of opportunities. New technological paradigms may, however, set new limits that surpass the previous limits.

====Current limitations====
Many roles for humans in industrial processes presently lie beyond the scope of automation. Human-level [[pattern recognition]], [[language comprehension]], and language production ability are well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems (but see ''[[Watson computer]]''). Tasks requiring subjective assessment or synthesis of complex sensory data, such as scents and sounds, as well as high-level tasks such as strategic planning, currently require human expertise. In many cases, the use of humans is more [[cost-effective]] than mechanical approaches even where the automation of industrial tasks is possible. Therefore, [[algorithmic management]] as the digital rationalization of human labor instead of its substitution has emerged as an alternative technological strategy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schaupp |first=Simon |date=2022-05-23 |title=COVID-19, economic crises and digitalisation: How algorithmic management became an alternative to automation |journal=New Technology, Work and Employment |volume=38 |issue=2 |language=en |pages=311–329 |doi=10.1111/ntwe.12246 |issn=0268-1072 |pmc=9347406 |pmid=35936383}}</ref> Overcoming these obstacles is a theorized path to [[post-scarcity]] economics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benanav |first=Aaron |title=Automation and the future of work |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-83976-129-4 |location=London |publisher=Verso |oclc=1147891672}}</ref>