The Automation Spectrum

Five levels of automation. Level one: the engine provides information — the human analyzes and decides. Level two: the engine provides recommendations — the human reviews and decides. Level three: the engine acts with human approval — the human confirms before execution. Level four: the engine acts and notifies — the human is informed after execution and can override. Level five: the engine acts autonomously — no human in the loop. Each level is appropriate for different decisions based on reversibility and consequence. Level five for sending a meeting reminder. Level one for recommending a pricing change. The spectrum is not a maturity progression where level five is the goal. It is a design choice where the right level is determined by the specific decision.