In every industry, from manufacturing to agriculture and automotive to aviation, engineers are also looking for new ways to make things better. Either improving an object so that it is better at what it does, or creating something new to make life easier.
Automation, where tasks are completed automatically and without human aid, is intrinsic to this concept. Throughout history, we have seen a natural progression from steam-powered machinery to self-guided machines.
The first computer and coining the term automation
The 'Analytical Engine', the world's first machine labelled a 'computer', was invented in 1837 by Charles Babbage, following a long tradition of humans trying to find easier, faster and cheaper ways to complete tasks. A big technological advance of the Middle Ages in this regard is the development of watermills for different tasks beyond milling grain. For instance, mills were developed for fulling wool mechanically: an otherwise intensive labour.
The culmination of this long tradition of mechanisation and automation really picked up in 1946. According to Britannica, "The term automation was coined in the automobile industry in 1946 to describe the increased use of automatic devices and controls in mechanised production lines. The origin of the word is attributed to D.S. Harder, an engineering manager at the Ford Motor Company at the time." Mechanisation describes the process of replacing human labour with machines, and it's a term that seems to be used less and less as automation becomes more prominent. Automation not only replaces basic labour but also suggests an integration into a self-governing system.
Automation in the modern-day
Nowadays, robotic assembly lines or automated machines in a factory are commonplace. In fact, it's almost a given that when a business reaches a certain scale, robots will be involved at some stage. Beyond the relatively simple robotic arms of assembly lines, machines are becoming more advanced and more interconnected. Now, different systems can communicate directly, without the need for a human 'translator', and industries are rapidly advancing towards a true Internet of Things (IoT).
Robotics aren't the only evolving technology in this regard, as the software that runs them needs to keep up. More specifically, artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasing role in all walks of life. Although most products still require a form of human input during the production process, industries are rapidly evolving towards becoming fully automated thanks to the autonomous systems that are run using AI software.
AI technology is becoming more common in everyday life. You may not have noticed that the image used in this article looks like a painting. If you haven't guessed already, it wasn't painted by a human, but it was created by an AI system based on a simple prompt that I gave it.