Relieving humans from repetitive, hazardous, and unpleasant tasks, decreasing costs and eliminating errors are perhaps the most obvious benefits of automation. But are they the most critical?

Even before General Electric coined the term ‘automation’ in 1947, workers worried about the implication of technology on their jobs and the security of employment. As early as 1936, the Trades Union Congress in the UK issued a leaflet demanding “a larger share of the benefits of increased output through innovation, with a shorter working week, a shorter working life and compensation to redundant workers.”

The point is that automation does not automate jobs. It automates tasks. For some people, automation has helped bring about a better standard of living and a more varied life, more efficient use of time, goods and materials, and an increased understanding of the world in which we live, which is critical in the context of the post-Covid Great Resignation or Great Re-Evaluation.

Andreea Baciu, Chief Culture Officer at UiPath, the first Romanian unicorn and a global software automation company, speaks with Andrew Wrobel about automation for good and about people being at the heart of automation both as enablers and beneficiaries.

In this podcast episode they look at robotic process automation (RPA) as a multipurpose tool helping to transform businesses as well as at the opportunities it creates for individuals to expand their skills and horizons, and most importantly, the impact it has on the environment, health and wellbeing.