Automation vs. Augmentation

Automation: AI replaces human capabilities. The system handles tasks with minimal or no human involvement. Success means the human doesn’t need to do the work.

Augmentation: AI enhances human capabilities. The system complements what humans do, enabling better outcomes through collaboration. Success means the human does better work than either could alone.

The traditional tech impact question asks: “To what degree can this task be automated?” But that’s only half the picture. The augmentation question is: “How can AI and humans collaborate to produce outcomes neither could achieve independently?”

Most AI discourse defaults to the automation frame. The Human Agency Scale (H1-H5) provides vocabulary for the full spectrum, where H1-H2 represents automation and H3-H5 represents augmentation.

Related: 07-atom—human-agency-scale, 07-molecule—desire-capability-landscape