Automation
These days there is a lot of talk about intelligent automation. And like a lot of new technologies, there is some misinformation, some exaggeration, and a great deal of misunderstanding about what intelligent automation really is and is not.
In the recent ARMA webinar " Straight Talk on Automation: Getting the Right Stuff Done With AI, RPA, and ML,” information management experts Steve Weismann and Ron Cameron attempted to set the record straight. The duo discussed what defines intelligent automation, the nuances that separate underlying technologies such as AI and RPA, and what people need to know as they buy products or solutions that claim to offer “intelligent” capabilities.
One thing is for certain: Intelligent Automation is much more than traditional automation technologies (think OCR) ever were. Traditional automation may automate ways of processing a document, but it still requires humans to do all the heavy lifting. For example, it still (largely) falls to humans to extract information from a document, rout it to various teams, classify the data, and make decisions.
Intelligent automation works at a different level. Questions like “Should we pay this bill?”, “When?” and “Does this person qualify for a loan?” can now be answered via intelligent automation technologies such as machine learning, neural networks, and artificial intelligence.
Anyone navigating the nuances and intricacies of automation technology should consider these five truths about intelligent automation that Steve and Ron discussed at length in their session.
Truth #1 – There’s No Magic Pill for Automation
Many people think automation is a single solution or platform to transform their business.
It’s not.
There is no magic pill for automating your business, or even specific business tasks. No single technology will transform every process or take human intervention completely out of the equation. Rather than looking for the ultimate solution to potentially cover every base and every process, look for the automated solution that is relatively easy to implement and can make an immediate impact on an obvious problem. It’s a higher potential pathway to achieving the kind of automation success on which your organization can build.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Robotic Processing Automation (RPA) all have complementary roles to play in optimizing your processes. It doesn’t make sense to prioritize one over the other.
Truth #2 – Humans Required
Automation shouldn’t be about replacing people with technology. Instead, intelligent automation gives humans the power to work with technology to get the best results.
Sure, RPA, ML, and AI can eliminate the mundane work your people do every day. But it’s work humans shouldn’t be doing anyway. People are at their most valuable when they are doing skilled, intellectually challenging work. Leave the time-consuming and meticulous tasks—such as rekeying data into applications or sorting and filing documents—to the machines.
When deploying an intelligent automation solution, the role of humans shifts from operator to advisor. Input from previous processes and human operators gives automation systems the ability to adapt and learn different characteristics of each document process. This complementary mode of working increases both the output of the automation and the level of employee satisfaction.
Truth #3 – It’s Critical to Understand the Power of Machine Learning Inside Your Business
One of the key technologies used in intelligent automation is machine learning. The goal of machine learning is to progressively improve performance on a specific task without being explicitly programmed. As its name suggests, “machine learning” truly learns over time by example, either through patterns, data, repetition, or characteristics.
Machine Learning is an excellent way to optimize document processes because it can easily recognize documents with the same characteristics, again and again, then classify and sort them appropriately for the next required action. For instance, machine learning can recognize the data and characteristics within invoices or contracts, then sort and prioritize them so that vendors can be paid, parts can be reordered, etc.
Truth #4 – AI vs. RPA is like Brain vs. Brawn
Two essential intelligent automation technologies are Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) automates repetitive rules-based tasks by mimicking step-by-step actions. If you can design a process using a computer and mouse, you can assign an RPA bot to make it do the work. RPA is perfect for repetitive, pre-built processes, but it is NOT smart. RPA can mimic any process but doesn’t learn them.
On the other hand, AI learns, comprehends, and makes decisions on its own. With even a small amount of human input to reinforce its decisions, AI develops its own understanding of a problem and learns how to solve it.
Determining which of these technologies to use goes back to the business need. If you want a system that can think on its own and learn, you need AI. But if you need a tool to turn semi-structured information into something organized and classified, RPA may be a better fit.
Truth #5 – The Uses for Intelligent Automation are Endless
Intelligent Automation is helpful to many different business functions, creating processes that are easier to manage and more efficient than ever before.
The agile and flexible nature of intelligent automation makes it a perfect tool to help organize and streamline invoice processing, client or employee onboarding, case management, and supply chain management processes. Optimizing these kinds of back-office processes lets employees focus on enhancing the customer experience and completing higher-value tasks.
One example of a common, everyday use is securely extracting transactional data such as payment information, credit card numbers, driver’s license information, financial data, addresses, and more from any kind of financial document. That data is then routed to the right applications or workflow engines and tagged so that organizations and individuals can easily search, access, and retrieve the information for use in downstream applications.
Curious How Automation Can Help You?
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotic Process Automation have a big role to play in business processes. However, focusing on these technologies by themselves is not the best way to go about automating your business.
Intelligent automation brings RPA, AI, and ML into one cohesive toolbox while shielding users from their complexities. Instead, users can focus on solving their business problems — whether those challenges are around loan processing, customer support, or HR onboarding.
Intelligent automation is a game-changer for businesses. Are you working to understand how it can change yours?
This is a snippet from the recent webinar, Straight Talk on Automation: Getting the Right Stuff Done With AI, RPA, and ML”. If you’d like to dive deeper into any of the truths covered above, listen to the entire ARMA webinar, here.
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Automation