On automation and humanity

I’ve been thinking a lot about automation since I started library school (well, ok, information school). The topic comes up often in classes, and usually the attitude of my colleagues is that any repetitive task, that is, anything that can be performed without thinking, can be performed instead by a machine, or a computer. And any task that can be performed by a computer should be. I’ve always felt there was a lack of skepticism about this in my program, and so I was excited to get the opportunity to meet Lee Hoinacki and hear him speak Tuesday.