Automation Failure Quotes

We spend more time working for our labor-saving machines than they do working for us.

So, where are the robots? We've been told for 40 years already that they're coming soon. Very soon they'll be doing everything for us. They'll be cooking, cleaning, buying things, shopping, building. But they aren't here. Meanwhile, we have illegal immigrants doing all the work, but we don't have any robots.

When a machine begins to run without human aid, it is time to scrap it - whether it be a factory or a government.

I don't think bots work.

Your shower is ready - I turned it on last night.

It's supposed to be automatic but actually you have to press this button.

Just because it's automatic doesn't mean it works.

The switch had two settings. You could either turn it to AUTO, in which case the awning lowered itself whenever the sun came out, or you could set it to MANUEL [sic], in which case, we assumed, a small, incompetent Spanish waiter came and did it for you.

Few companies that installed computers to reduce the employment of clerks have realized their expectations... They now need more, and more expensive clerks even though they call them 'operators' or 'programmers.'