I think part of the skepticism isnt coming from automation itself, but that automation has caused essential yet extremely complex systems to become tightly coup

I think part of the skepticism isnt coming from automation itself, but that automation has caused essential yet extremely complex systems to become tightly coupled. A classic example of how this can be problematic is the 2010 flash crash. In these kinds of systems it can be very difficult to know that non-equilibrium behavior of the system is sane. When people are an active part of the decision making process they can put the breaks on clearly nonsensical behavior, but with increasing automation a crisis could be created out of random fluctuations and become a major problem before anyone realizes what is happening.