More faster, never enough

Here's the fundamental paradox of modern automation: Every time we make something more efficient, instead of using that efficiency to maintain the same output with less effort, we dramatically increase production targets. It's like building a faster car only to lengthen the commute.

Here's a concrete example from my work: Modern distribution centers are marvels of automation—robots glide between aisles, conveyor systems snake through buildings, and AI orchestrates it all. Amazon alone has invested billions in these technologies across its 285 fulfillment centers. Yet each center still employs an average of 2,500 workers—a number Amazon admits will not decrease. Why? because the goal was never to reduce labor. Instead, all this automation serves one purpose: increasing delivery speed to drive more consumption.

The reality on the ground tells the story. I've watched workers unload endless pallets of TVs onto conveyor belts, where a sophisticated robotic arm applies shipping labels before sending them to the loading dock. The automation is impressive, but it hasn't eliminated human labor - it's just made it more intense. While robots excel at moving products through predetermined paths, humans remain the most flexible "tool" for handling irregular objects and adapting to constantly changing conditions. The promised reduction in drudgery often turns out to be a myth. Workers still perform repetitive tasks, just faster and under more pressure to keep up with the automated systems surrounding them.

This pattern repeats everywhere:

· Email automated written communication, so now we're expected to handle hundreds of messages daily

· Slack made instant messaging effortless, so now we're expected to be constantly available

· Mobile phones made us reachable anywhere, so now we're expected to be reachable everywhere

· Manufacturing automation made production faster, so now we're expected to consume more

The mathematics of efficiency have become perverted. Instead of asking "How can we maintain what we need with less effort?" we keep asking "How much more can we produce with the same effort?" It's as if we've forgotten that the end goal of efficiency should be sufficiency, not endless growth.

Consider online shopping. The promise was that automation would make shopping more efficient, saving us time and effort. Instead, we've created a system where:

· The average American now spends more time shopping than ever before

· Workers in fulfillment centers run increasingly grueling shifts to meet one-day delivery promises

· The environmental cost of packaging and delivery has skyrocketed

· We buy more things than ever before, requiring more storage, more organization, and ultimately, more of our time

What's particularly absurd about this situation is that it doesn't even make us happier. Studies consistently show that, beyond meeting basic needs, additional consumption doesn't increase life satisfaction. Yet we've built entire automated systems dedicated to helping us consume more, faster.