[jrowen]

I'm not entirely sure what you're saying. That usage of bureaucratic seems strange. I think your counsel is more true than ever. Moving forward, search is the meta-skill. The information is readily available, you can do anything if you know how to find it.

The automaton is not categorically different from the book or the teacher.

The fact that some number of people aren't adept at these things is an invariant of human nature, don't blame the tools getting better.