ROME, July 22 — The shift is already here, and it’s not just about assembly lines going silent. Automation, defined by technologies that slash human intervention in processes, is delivering labour savings, waste reduction, and sharper precision. But the trend underneath those gains is a political tremor: the same job losses blamed on automation have been cited as a key driver behind the resurgence of nationalist, protectionist, and populist politics in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France since the 2010s.
The numbers, however, tell a more complicated story. The World Bank’s 2019 World Development Report presents evidence that new industries and jobs in the technology sector outweigh the economic effects of workers displaced by automation.
That conclusion cuts against the political narrative – but it hasn’t stopped the backlash.
A long history, a faster present
Automation didn’t start with software. The earliest known feedback control dates back to around 270 BC in Ptolemaic Egypt, where Ctesibius built a float regulator. In 850 AD, the Banū Mūsā brothers in Baghdad designed automatic controls for fountains and clocks.
By the 17th century, Christiaan Huygens had developed the centrifugal governor, a mechanical speed regulator that would later become central to steam engines. The Industrial Revolution created new demands for automatic systems, and mathematical control theory accelerated through the 20th century.
The term “automation” itself only gained popular currency after 1947, when Ford Motor Company established an automation department. That post-war moment marked the beginning of a steady, accelerating integration of mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic, and computer-based devices into production. Today the technologies are everywhere, from self-checkout kiosks to algorithm-driven supply chains.
The political cost
Yet the benefits – labor savings, waste reduction, improved quality and precision – have come with a human cost that is not purely economic. Job losses and downward mobility tied to automation have fuelled the rise of nationalist and protectionist movements in three of the world’s largest economies: the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. That political realignment, visible since the early 2010s, has reshaped elections, trade policy, and public discourse.
The World Bank’s 2019 report offers a counterpoint: technology creates more jobs than it destroys, especially in new industries. But the transition is painful, and the politics of dislocation are real.
The trend underneath is that automation’s next wave will likely accelerate both the efficiency gains and the political pressure.
What to watch next
Watch this space. As automation technologies become cheaper and smarter, the gap between the economic evidence and the political response may widen – or it may force new policy compromises. The float regulator and the centrifugal governor were small mechanical fixes.
The challenge today is far larger. The shift is still unfolding, and the politics are just as dynamic as the technology.
Sources
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