Everyday Automation - of Everyday AI and Automated Decision-Making

In this review of Everyday Automation the authors examine how automated systems are woven into daily life and why that matters. The book is best for researchers, policy makers, designers and students who want a grounded, international perspective on how AI and automated decision-making shape everyday experiences rather than a technical primer. Its biggest value is drawing direct connections between future-facing visions of automation and the lived realities, power relations and social inequalities that determine whether those technologies help or harm.

Key Features

• International perspectives: The book collects case studies from multiple global regions to show how automation appears in diverse social and cultural contexts.
• Focus on lived experience: It centers what people actually know and feel about interacting with automated technologies rather than only technical specifications or hype.
• Interdisciplinary authorship: Contributions from scholars and practitioners highlight policy, design and engineering viewpoints alongside social research.
• Critical engagement: The text asks how visions of automation compare with everyday realities and the unequal effects of ADM in practice.
• Open Access availability: Being openly available makes the work easy to share in classrooms and professional discussions without paywall barriers.

Who It's For

This book is ideal for social scientists, human-centered designers, public policy analysts and graduate students who need critical, empirical accounts of how automation is embedded in daily life. It supports coursework and project work that interrogates power, equity and the practical implications of deploying automated systems.

Those seeking a technical engineering manual or a hands-on programming guide should look elsewhere; the strength of Everyday Automation is conceptual and qualitative analysis rather than code, algorithms or system architecture details.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Provides a broad, international set of case studies that illuminate varied experiences with automated decision-making.
• Centers the voices and knowledge of people engaging with real systems, making findings useful for policy and design critique.
• Interdisciplinary contributors give balanced views across industry, academia and governance.

Cons

• The book does not offer technical how-to guidance for building AI systems, limiting its use for engineering practitioners.

Specifications

Our Verdict

Everyday Automation is a valuable, well-structured collection for anyone who needs to understand the social consequences of AI and ADM across different regions and populations. It is good value for researchers, educators and policy makers who require evidence-based critique and comparative perspectives rather than technical instruction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this book technical or theoretical?
The book is primarily qualitative and theoretical with empirical case studies, not a technical programming guide.

Can I use this in a class or workshop?
Yes, its Open Access status and interdisciplinary chapters make it easy to assign and discuss in academic and professional settings.

Does it cover policy and design implications?
Yes, multiple chapters engage directly with policy makers, designers and engineers to compare visions with everyday realities.