Sure, write me a 2 page essay why I should enlighten you for free. Most people who want something for nothing usually end up being bad traders so maybe I am saving you from yourself.
The hacks don't *just* say sell when IV is high. They say sell when IV is high relative to what you expect realized volatility to be. The problem is (and I think this is why you see so many people selling this model) is that the market has caught on to this discrepancy and IV / realized volatility is very close to 1 these days.
Yes, but the cardinal rule is hedging; either in the underlying or against other options. Do not look at the amateur idiot's at optionsellers and convince yourself that shorting premium is not practical.
I should add: I haven't been able to find any significant IV-related discrepancy for any recent period of time that would make it possible to profit off of an options selling strategy. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist, might just mean that I need better scanners.
The scanners you built/bought are like a snail trying to race a cheetah compared to you competing with Citadel/Optiver/Akuna to find arbitrage opportunities. If you don't think option selling is a profitable strategy than you chose the correct username.
Automation requires something of a model focused on an index or higher level products, I am sure it is possible but more on the quant level I think...
The options traders that I saw do really well at prop firms were making markets in options on financially cleared OTC products and then hedging them with analog exchange futures typically. In other words - these were not spaces crowded with ten of thousands of market participants (the OTC Swaps that is).