The report discusses the advancements in autonomous systems, particularly in technologies that enable devices to navigate the physical world without human guidance. These systems require algorithms for decision making and clear, preprogrammed inputs. While robotic process automation (RPA) is a good example of a system that appears to "think" but is not autonomous, a truly autonomous system must function independently from its programmers and require multiple algorithms and complex modeling. The most time-consuming work in procurement and supply management still needs to be carried out by human intermediaries, even with RPA.
