Automation Fatigue: Finding the Balance
We have all felt it. Another automation rollout. Another system promising to make life easier, faster, cheaper. And in many ways, it has. But something else has quietly crept in: automation fatigue.
The more we automate, the less we notice when creativity starts to fade. You can feel it in production teams that stop questioning. You can hear it when the director’s voice is replaced by a workflow alert. When efficiency becomes the loudest voice in the room, the human instinct that makes sport so compelling starts to fade.
Designing Workflows That Inspire
If the workflow is designed for cost alone, you will get compliance. If it is designed for creativity, you will get energy.
That starts with intent. Keep humans where judgment matters. Give editors and producers space to choose not just what appears, but when and why. Build tools that are flexible, not rigid. Make templates a starting point, not a cage.
Technology should connect teams, not isolate them.
Bring more of the team back into real collaboration, even when they are remote. Open comms by default. Encourage live feedback. Allow for controlled risk. Creative people do not thrive in silence.
The Talent Pipeline Problem
There is a generation coming through that knows dashboards better than lenses. That is not a criticism. It is a symptom of the systems we have built.
If new talent never feels the rhythm of a live gallery, they will treat production like operations. We need to let them experience the thing that keeps people in this industry. The nerves. The cues. The timing. The responsibility to capture the moment, not just process it.
Mentorship matters here. Pair the data native with the live veteran. Teach both ways. That balance between data and instinct is where the next generation of great storytellers will come from.
Measures That Actually Matter
Automation is supposed to make us more efficient. But somewhere along the way, efficiency became the goal rather than the outcome.
When every metric is about output, time saved, or cost per clip, you start to lose sight of what you are really trying to achieve. Efficiency should free you to focus on quality, not quantity.
The truth is, you can automate speed, but you cannot automate judgment. A perfectly cut highlight means nothing if it misses the emotional heartbeat of the moment.
When we measure what matters, we design systems that serve people, not the other way around.
That is why we need to measure impact, not just performance. Did it make the audience feel something? Did it tell the story better? Those are the metrics that matter in the end.
Finding the Balance
Automation fatigue is not a rejection of technology. It is a reminder of what drew people to this industry in the first place.
We are here because we love the chaos of live moments. The tension before a goal. The hush before the crowd erupts. The shared sense that anything can happen.
Technology should make that connection stronger, not flatter. The next wave of innovation will come from that balance, not from choosing sides. Machines will keep getting better at what they do, but the heartbeat of sport and storytelling will always belong to people.
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