Future trends: What's next for automation?

Increased Adoption across Various Industries

The surge in automation is set to persist, with increasing adoption across numerous sectors. Despite the common perception that automation is primarily rooted in manufacturing, it has immense potential to reshape a broad spectrum of industries.

Healthcare, for example, is seeing a rising influx of automation tools, promising more efficient patient care, from diagnostics to treatment plan development. The food service sector is also embracing automation, with automated kitchens and robotic chefs surfacing as more than just concepts. Evidently, as organisations become more comfortable with automation benefits, its further proliferation across diverse sectors is inevitable.

Human-Machine Collaboration

The rise of automation doesn't signify the end of human intervention. Instead, we'll see an increase in human-machine collaboration. This symbiosis brings together human creativity, strategic thought, and decision-making capabilities with machine efficiency, precision, and consistency.

New technologies like Cobots (Collaborative Robots) are already facilitating this shift. Designed to work alongside humans rather than replace them, Cobots signal a promising future where automation and human ingenuity exist harmoniously at workplace settings.

Implications for the Workforce

With automation on the rise, it will have profound implications for the workforce. While there are concerns regarding workforce displacement, the story doesn't end there. Automation, in reality, opens doors to a host of new job possibilities.

As routine tasks are automated, it provides scope for workers to focus on more complex, creative aspects of their jobs - areas that machines can't encroach. It is also expected to lead to job creation in areas like automation design, programming, maintenance, and others, calling for a workforce with new skill sets.

AI and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are set to play dominant roles in automation's future landscape. They have the power to unlock more sophisticated levels of automation, particularly in the realm of decision-making processes.

With AI and Machine Learning, automation systems can learn from the past, make predictions, and adjust their actions accordingly - all without human intervention. This can lead to automation not only performing routine tasks but taking critical decisions, thereby transforming organisational efficiencies at greater levels.