[throwway120385]

I've never seen automation used to provide higher quality things. Usually it's used to provide subpar things and to try to drive the cost of things down. Or it's used to increase the intensity at which people work until they're completely exhausted every day after they finish work.

I really like the "Manna" series because I'm increasingly of the opinion that this is where our society is going with automation -- the computer thinks for me and if I'm not a suitable candidate to be automated by a computer, then I'm shoved in a box somewhere to live out my days with almost no comforts.

Just because automation could be used to eliminate scarcity it doesn't necessarily follow that that's the only way it will be used. It's far more likely to be used to further entrench the already existing structure of our society.

[verandaguy]

You're right that in some industries, with some products, automation delivers lower-quality results. But at the same time, automation has allowed us to build certain things that we previously almost couldn't at scales that were once unimaginable. Electronics are a good example of this -- a sub-µm process couldn't be done, practically, without a level of precision reliably achievable only through automation.

In many industries, automation also leads to higher reliability. Aircraft with flight envelope protection are a direct result of automation, and while poor design (like the original set of MCAS-related issues on the 737 MAX) or bad crew doctrine (like AA965 in 1995) can still lead to bad outcomes, automation, on the whole, has saved countless lives.

These tools exist, we just need to keep improving them, and use them in a strategic, smart, and forward-looking way.