Intelligent Automation: Bridging Artificial Intelligence and Automation
A special issue of Automation (ISSN 2673-4052). This special issue belongs to the section "Intelligent Control and Machine Learning".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2025 | Viewed by 25
Special Issue Editors
Interests: computational intelligence and fuzzy systems; intelligent data analysis; smart industry; applications in energy and healthcare
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: artificial intelligence; soft computing; feature selection; fuzzy modelling; optimization; metaheuristics; computational intelligence; knowledge data discovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Intelligent automation (IA) represents the convergence of artificial intelligence and traditional automation technologies to create systems that can learn, adapt, and execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention.
IA systems incorporate feedback loops that continuously refine performance. Machine learning algorithms analyze outcome data—such as processing times or throughput—and adjust decision parameters over time. Their self-optimizing nature means that IA deployments grow increasingly efficient and accurate, unlocking higher levels of productivity and customer service. By adding machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision to classic automation, IA can handle tasks that traditional systems cannot deal with.
Research in intelligent automation must also address ethical considerations around data privacy, ensure transparency in AI-driven decisions, and maintain robust changes in automated systems. When implemented thoughtfully, IA becomes a powerful bridge between AI’s cognitive strengths and automation’s precision, transforming manual processes into agile, intelligent workflows—laying the groundwork for truly autonomous systems. These cognitive capabilities allow for IA systems to learn from experience and adapt to new data. For example, predictive analytics applied to sensor data can forecasting equipment failure, enabling maintenance before breakdown.
Intelligent automation can be practical across many sectors. For instance, in manufacturing and logistics, artificial intelligence and robotic systems support predictive maintenance, quality control, or warehouse optimization. In healthcare, artificial intelligence, NLP and vision systems can accelerate diagnostics and patient triage.
These examples highlight IA’s potential impact in diverse fields and its relevance to complex systems engineering and research.
However, implementing IA poses significant challenges. Robust data governance (ensuring data quality, privacy, and security) is critical for trustworthy AI. Transparency and explainability are active research directions, since opaque models hinder auditing. Adaptability is also essential: IA systems must adjust to new conditions. Overall, IA represents a significant scientific advance in integrating AI with automation, promising efficiency gains while raising issues of data governance, model transparency, and ethical human–machine integration.
This Special Issue on intelligent automation welcome contributions across a large spectrum of areas of AI in automation, e.g., AI in control, AI in optimization, AI in manufacturing systems, AI in process automation and monitoring, AI in energy systems, AI in the healthcare industry, and any other area that may be compassed by the scope of the Special Issue topic.
Prof. Dr. João Miguel da Costa Sousa
Dr. Susana Vieira
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Automation is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- inteligent automation
- artificial intelligence (AI)
- AI in control
- AI in optimization algorithms
- AI in manufacturing systems
- AI in process automation and monitoring
- AI in energy systems
- AI in the healthcare industry
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