Monique Verdin, "Headwaters : Tamaracks + Time : Lake Itasca" (2019), digital assemblage. Photograph taken in 2019; United States War Department map of the route passed over by an expedition into the Indian country in 1832 to the source of the Mississippi River.

Smart Automation to Help Humans

February 19, 2015

Advances in information technology and robotics will transform the labor market over the next few decades in ways that will challenge society’s ability to make timely adjustments, says an exploratory study reported in Issues. One approach to helping workers find a satisfying fit in such a technological future, according to an essay in the Wall Street Journal, is to develop “human-centered automation” that gives the unique talents of people precedence over the useful but limited skills of machines.