economists keep confusing money for value. that's how they can claim "productivity" has increased over time.
i think value is subjective. some may value human interaction enough that they don't think self-service at a grocery store is an improvement, for example, even if the waiting times are reduced, and even if the business balance sheets look better.
in a way, economists are trying to quantify things that aren't possible to quantify. they take that as a challenge, basically. how can we turn this into numbers?