Ten years ago is all we need here. Science fair materials created sensors; robots were sci-fi clichés, automation meant uncomfortable assembly lines. Fast forward to now, and platforms like makeitautomatic.com offer creative solutions once believed futuristic, tackling daily business difficulties and household convenience.
Remember how few years ago developing an effective process might take days, maybe weeks? Today, drag and drop interfaces let anyone automatically handle tasks. The transition is wild, and it is just accelerating.
Let us go over numbers now. McKinsey says that automation technology might boost world production growth by up to 1.4% annually. Even if one digit looks under control, among hundreds of enterprises it is a tidal wave of efficiency. Predictive maintenance lets manufactured flooring moan somewhat less. These days, sensors predict mechanical breakdown before they become catastrophic. Then there is agriculture, not blurry eyed farmers, drones and artificial intelligence driven tractors work fields at night guided by computers. Cornfields never go to sleep, presumably.
Owners of businesses and employees see email and accounting practices transformed into self driving engines. Repeated number crunching turns into a background hum that lets creative brains focus on what humans are best at problem solving and crazy new idea generation. Also riding this wave is healthcare. Rapidly reviewing test results, automated diagnostic technologies identify anomalies doctors could miss in their last hour on duty. The safety net gets more strong even if it is not flawless and not by a long margin.
Sometimes home automation is like magic. Learning your habit, smart thermostats adjust the temperature ten minutes before you fall asleep on the couch. Your refrigerator eyes reveal levels and encourage you to add eggs to the grocery list without sticky notes. Even lawn sprinklers participate in the game, assessing weather forecasts to stop grass from getting wet during a shower.
Not all Silicon and sunlight, though. People worry about jobs either moving or vanishing. The International Federation of Robotics predicts millions of new employment, mostly in hitherto unanticipated sectors, showing up. The secret is riding the wave asking questions instead of resisting change.
At the intersection of all this, artificial intelligence does hard backstage work. Machine learning systems eat mountains of data, optimizing everything from Amazon warehouses to hospital patient floors. However, artificial intelligence is hungry. It lives on data, hence privacy concerns take front stage. The tightrope walk between privacy and progress keeps innovators honest or at least on alert.
And afterwards? Experts predict “hyperautomation,” in which everything that might be automated will be. Tools mix old systems, new apps, cloud-based services, and even some oddball legacy widgets. The dream is: Perfect automation gives daily life and work the impression of a staged performance rather than a grind. Anyone with some ideas and some nerve will be able to join.
Thus, whether your company is small-sized and you just want your coffee ready at daybreak or another action is under planning, automation innovation brings both shocks and benefits. Nobody knows. Your dog or your boss might value you guiding the automation revolution.