Automation

Automation, refers to the idea that computers automate or mimic human thought. The term originates from Lev Manovich's 2001 book The Language of New Media. Automation is a consequence of Numerical representation and Modularity which render media able to be "programmed" and thus able to manipulated mathematically. 
==Early examples== 
===Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine===
===Alan Turing's Universal Turing Machine===
Turing claimed "...the machine could perform any calculation which can be done by a human."
===Vanner Bush's Memex Machine===
==Low vs High level automation==
Manovich highlights two types of automation, low-level and high-level. Where low-level automation results in automated shortcuts to repetivie computer behavior, high-level automation results in "...meaning embedded in the objects being generated."
===Examples of low-level automation===
:-auto-complete typing features
:-batch edits in photoshop
:-automatic browser updates
:-Google alerts
===Examples of high-level automation===
:-Artificial Intelligence (AI) engines and neural networks that simulate human intelligence and adaptive behavior in games
:-The idea of a Semantic Web, defined by the development of an Internet network of machine readable communication structures enabling computers to find, locate and process information without the user's direct involvement
==External Links==
* The Semantic Web category from the What's New Media blog
* Ray Kurzweil: How technology's accelerating power will transform us from the TED Talks series
Category:Concepts & Terms
Category:Modalities