Launch HN: ElectroNeek (YC W20) – Automatically find and automate routine work | Hacker News

This sounds really cool! However, I wonder about the reliability aspects of it? Many sites are pretty hostile to Selenium and robot-like behaviors. Also, software can change it's layout, colors, icons, etc. I've seen this with a team that was using SikuliX[0] to automate testing of a GUI application. It worked, but any time the UI changed even a little, the whole automation program would have to be re-done. In short, I wonder how ElectroNeek solves these issues: 1. Working around software that has been designed to be hostile to automation. 2. Coping with changes to a UI when a software is updated. 3. All the difficult little error handling bits. How do you know if the workflow succeeded? How do you make sure it only happens once? How do you notify the user? 4. Where does the program run? Do you have to have a pile of PCs sitting around running mouse movement scripts in real-time? Another thing I wonder -- how do the users feel about this? I think many people would be uncomfortable knowing that there is a Sword of Damocles hanging over their head, waiting to automate their job away if it seems too repetitive. I guess that would ultimately be a cultural issue for the company using this tool to solve, but still something I think would be important in order for clients to be successful using it long-term. For example, you don't want to create an incentive for people to try and make their tasks seem non-repetitive in order to avoid having their job automated. 0 - http://www.sikulix.com/