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Automation: What It Means to Us Around the World, Definitions, Its Impact, and Outlook

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Springer Handbook of Automation

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Abstract

Introducing automation and this handbook, the meaning of the term automation is reviewed through its definition and related definitions, historical evolution, technological progress, benefits and risks, and domains and levels of applications. A survey of 506 respondents, including university students and professionals around the world, adds insights to the current and evolving meaning of automation to people, with regard to: What is your best example and your own definition of automation?; Where did you encounter automation first in your life?; and, what are the top contribution and top risk of automation to individuals and to society? The survey responses include five main aspects of automation definitions; ten main types of first automation encounter; and six types of benefits, six types of risks, and ten types of best automation examples. The most exciting contribution of automation found in the survey (as it was found in the previous, original survey) is to encourage/inspire creative work, inspire innovation and newer solutions. Minor variations were found in different regions of the world. Responses about the first automation encounter are somewhat related to the age of the respondent, e.g., pneumatic versus digital, wireless, and cyber control, and to urban versus farming childhood environment. The chapter concludes with several emerging trends in nature-inspired and bioinspired automation, cyber collaborative control and cyber physical automation, and risks to consider, avoid, and eliminate.

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Acknowledgments

This chapter is a revised and updated version of the original edition chapter, so first I repeat the original acknowledgment, which appeared in 2009: “I received with appreciation help in preparing and reviewing this chapter from my graduate students at our PRISM Center, particularly Xin W. Chen, Juan Diego Velásquez, Sang Won Yoon, and Hoo Sang Ko, and my colleagues on our PRISM Global Research Network, particularly Professors Chin Yin Huang, José A. Ceroni, and Yael Edan. This chapter was written in part during a visit to the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, where I was inspired by the automation collection at the great Industrial Engineering and Management Library. Patient and knowledgeable advice by librarian Coral Navon at the Technion Elyachar Library is also acknowledged.” For the new edition, I repeat my appreciation for the help I now received from the same colleagues listed above, and in addition, to Professor Avital Bechar, distinguished members of our Advisory Board, and several anonymous reviewers. Rashed Rabata, a former PRISM Center graduate researcher, helped me analyze the current automation survey.

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  1. PRISM Center and School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Shimon Y. Nof

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  1. Shimon Y. Nof
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Correspondence to Shimon Y. Nof .

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  1. PRISM Center and School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Shimon Y. Nof

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Nof, S.Y. (2023). Automation: What It Means to Us Around the World, Definitions, Its Impact, and Outlook. In: Nof, S.Y. (eds) Springer Handbook of Automation. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96729-1_1

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