The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder is an array of 36 x 12m dishes, and is
the newest radio telescope owned and operated by CSIRO, Australia's national science
agency. As a telescope designed to carry out large all-sky surveys, it necessitated a
significant divergence from the existing astronomer-operated ATNF telescopes. This
presented the observatory with a unique opportunity to redefine what science operations
look like from the foundations up, rather than inheriting existing structures and
systems. Since the start of Pilot Surveys Phase I in mid 2019, we have aimed to increase
automation of ASKAP as much as possible, with the end goal of carrying out science
operations in a way which maximises the autonomy of the system and minimises the
reliance on human-centric decision making. Alongside a number of changes to the way the
telescope is operated and monitored, a key ongoing development has been SAURON
(Scheduling Autonomously Under Reactive Observational Needs), which has been primarily
responsible for science observation scheduling since late 2020. I will present an
overview of our progress so far towards full survey operations, especially with respect
to the critical role of automation, autonomy and AI in paving the path to the next
generation of complex telescope systems.