• History of the Word “Automation”
    • First used to describe the assembly line and factories
      • Provides higher quality of life, more efficacy, more mass leisure
      • Less work needed, promises of 30 hour work week among other things
    • Automation then started being used for military purposes; aiming for anti-air missiles, etc.
    • After automation became widespread, philosophers feared machines replacing humans and overtaking them
      • Focused on the idea of feedback loops/control with input and output
      • General Electric released multiple short, animated films that highlighted the benefits of automation
  • Automation as Imagineering
    • Many of the lead creatives in Disney had backgrounds in industrial engineering and automation
    • “Imagineering” was first coined in recruitment advertisements for Alcoa Aluminum, an industrial company
    • Disney was one of the first parks to use automation (sensors to trigger events) while many other parks use mechanization instead (on/off buttons, unintelligent rides)
      • Rides can be thought of as an assembly line in of itself
      • Automated tramrails and trains were used as a model for various dark rides like Peter Pan
      • Very similar to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, no machines and everything is hidden
  • Personified Automation
    • Robots are often personified to make them feel more “real”
    • Used to make robots less intimidating (or, in the case of Disney, to simulate an experience)