Robotic process automation (RPA) has been a major force for augmenting how we live and work since long before COVID-19, but there’s no denying that it made pacey advancement over this period – so much so, Forrester predicts the market will grow to $22 billion by 2025.
And with intelligent automation combining the benefits of RPA with artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate digital transformation, the horizons of this technology continue to extend even further.
Nevertheless, there are still lots of people who don’t truly understand what either of these solutions entail, and are still hung up on the overdramatic misconception that robots are here to steal our jobs.
The fear of automation has been a fixation of employees for generations – with robots often viewed as a replacement for human ingenuity, and designed to reduce headcount. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As this exciting world continues to advance at pace, so too does the ability for teams to fulfill their core purpose in the workplace, and drive operational excellence, cost efficiencies and better customer experiences.
That’s exactly why automation should be viewed as an investment in people, not a replacement. This is where the untapped potential can really be explored.
There are two types of automation we’re talking about at present. Saving time, money, and headaches by mimicking the actions of a person, RPA is especially effective for undertaking tedious and repetitive tasks. Think of it as dealing with the ‘dumb stuff’.
Intelligent automation on the other hand – where the market is going – takes this to the next level. Providing the ability to not simply automate an existing process but ingest, interpret, and re-engineer data, this enhanced solution works ten times harder for businesses and augments the roles of people more than ever before.
Here’s how it works, in three simple steps…
1. Analyses data to formulate predictions
One of the most critical components of intelligent automation is artificial intelligence (AI), which enables the software to automate traditionally labour-intensive, rule-based analysis – without any form of human intervention.
Structured data processing is one of the intelligent technologies utilised throughout this process. This involves scrutinising information that is organised, clearly-defined, and searchable – although this represents only about 20 percent of a business’s data.
Natural language processing (NLP) is an equally integral component too – enabling a computer to understand, interpret and synthesise human language or speech, unearth insights, and take meaningful action.
And, by combining AI with machine learning (ML), optical character recognition (OCR) is able to decipher and convert unstructured data into a machine-readable form. This is particularly useful for data processing – like editing and searching.
2. Builds an AI brain to make informed decisions
By combining business logic processing with ML technology, intelligent automation can build a self-aware database that is able to learn, reason, and understand – just like a human brain can.
Where RPA removes the ‘heavy lifting’ of everyday processes, intelligent automation is able to use simulated intelligence and analysis to create end-to-end business processes that think, learn, and adapt on their own.
3. Emulates human actions
The robotic part of savvy automation comes into play under the guise of ‘digital workforces’ – like Google assistant, for example.
Built and managed to emulate, as well as automate, repeated human actions, these services take the ‘grunt work out of repetitive, time consuming, low-value tasks – working faster than human processing, delivering 100% accuracy, and infinite scalability.
With such endless possibilities, employees can be forgiven for feeling such fears over their role in the future of work. But by integrating this state-of-the-art technology into existing infrastructure, businesses can realise significant time savings – offering up more ‘headspace’ for employers to be more productive elsewhere and boosting job satisfaction as a result.
There’s no denying that automation is a complex world. But just because narratives are growing louder, doesn’t mean that it’s a new concept. The reality is, by leveraging this digital technology now, organisations can become more nimble and resilient.
And with ever-increasing rivalry on the employment front, demand for such advanced solutions is only going to multiply.
