You are right about the frustration. I think we all have felt it, but even open and shut cases have to wait until they are at the front of the line.
1. Based on this USCIS quarterly report (4th Quarter of FY 2024), there were more than 2 MILLION cases pending. Looks like they processed 816, 549 cases, but they received 981,202 cases.
2. I'm not sure there is a way to automate the process. Every case has to be vetted by human eyes and human judgement.
quarterly_all_forms_fy2024_q4.xlsx