Listen to the full interview here:
The interview was conducted as part of the Green Industry Foundation's expert collaboration with the Civic Studies Institute.
The automation paradox can be summarized as a simple chain of cause and effect: more efficient technologies reduce costs, which in turn stimulate demand (James Watt's steam engines, for example, tripled coal consumption). At the same time, as algorithms take over routine tasks, people are required to step in quickly whenever critical situations arise—but without regular practice, those skills gradually deteriorate.
This is the essence of the automation paradox: the more automation we rely on, the greater the responsibility placed on people to respond effectively when it matters most. Yet these very capabilities are becoming increasingly rare.