Let's face it, the computer that this column is written on is largely a machine that is a massive upgrade from the Underwood typewriter I began my journalism career on, and that typewriter was a big upgrade from the days of pen and paper and hot lead typesetting in the newspaper business.
So turning to machines is not new.
What is new is turning to machines which have a level of artificial intelligence, although even that is now a decades old evolution.
Assembly line production has relied on computer-controlled machines for years, and those can be considered early A.I. machines of a fashion.