Robotics and AI: is this duet redefining the workplace?

Automation is changing the working landscape at a rapid pace. Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are making their way into companies, improving processes and making everyday life easier for employees. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) occupies a prime position in this teeming context. Unlike industrial robots or other cutting-edge technologies, this solution enables tasks to be automated rapidly, without any need to modify existing systems. Its ease of use and high ROI are attracting a growing number of decision-makers, stimulating innovation in the field.

This raises a key question: what impact will these future technologies have on companies and their employees? This article sheds light on the future of RPA and AI, their joint progress and how they will ultimately shape new forms of work.

What is RPA?

RPA refers to a set of technologies that automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks usually performed by human beings. In practice, these are software robots that take the place of employees to carry out these tedious activities for them. 

These robots work by capturing the actions performed by employees at their workstations. They reproduce these gestures identically, following well-defined business rules. Unlike AI, RPAs are not autonomous. They simply imitate human tasks, to relieve employees of thankless and/or repetitive everyday tasks.

What's more, the RPA market continues to grow. In recent years, it has experienced double-digit growth rates, and this is set to continue until at least 2024.

The benefits of RPPs

Productivity improvement

As already mentioned, RPA transforms employees' daily lives by relieving them of tedious, time-consuming tasks. Employees see their productivity increase, as they spend less time on procedural and repetitive activities. They can then concentrate on higher value-added missions, requiring creativity and analysis.

Going a step further, RPA refocuses employees on their core business and customer service. It enables them to upgrade their skills in strategic activities such as complex project management, predictive analysis and the creation of innovative new products and services.

These employees, assisted by software robots, are now referred to as "augmented collaborators". Thanks to this unprecedented man-machine collaboration, their performance is significantly improved. 

Automated business workflows

RPA not only automates individual tasks, it also intervenes in complete workflows. In this way, it connects different business processes to create optimized end-to-end workflows. 

Let's take the example of a company's invoicing process. Allowing a robot to issue a single invoice is all well and good. But interconnecting all the stages - quotation, sales order, invoice dispatch, unpaid reminders - to create an end-to-end flow is much better!

RPA orchestrates the sequence of automated tasks and human validations required for this global workflow. Data flows seamlessly between the various systems. The result: faster, more reliable and seamless business processes.

This high level of integration brings real added value to companies. It facilitates the exchange of information and reinforces the coherence of operations. It also provides managers with greater visibility, enabling them to fine-tune activities and identify areas for improvement.

Lever for improving working conditions

RPA can also improve working conditions in a number of ways:

• Increased motivation: relieved of thankless tasks, employees are more fulfilled and involved in their missions.
• Reduced stress: the elimination of repetitive and tedious activities reduces fatigue and psycho-social risks. 
• Upgrading jobs: employees focus on higher value-added tasks, thus upgrading their skills.
• Greater autonomy: refocused on their core business, employees gain greater responsibility and room for maneuver.
• Encouraging creativity: freed from time-consuming tasks, employees have more time to come up with innovative ideas.
• Reduced staff turnover: the less arduous nature of certain jobs helps to retain employees.

So, in addition to productivity gains, RPA positively transforms teams' daily lives. Enough to motivate companies to take the plunge!

AI: the future of RPA?

RPA is currently enjoying a new lease of life, thanks to recent advances in AI. By integrating cognitive bricks into software robots, RPA solution publishers are increasing their capabilities. We now speak of intelligent or cognitive RPA.

In concrete terms, these new-generation robots will eventually be able to analyze unstructured data such as e-mails, scanned documents or even voice conversations. They understand the meaning of texts and user requests to trigger the right automated processes.

For example, a robot with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities will analyze the content of an incoming e-mail to automatically qualify the priority level and transfer the request to the appropriate department. 

Tomorrow, computer vision will even enable robots to read and understand paper documents, extracting structured data. 

This alliance between RPA and AI is shaping a new generation of intelligent robots, capable of understanding their environment and making automated decisions. It paves the way for end-to-end process automation, with minimal human intervention. 

Conclusion

RPA is already revolutionizing the professional world by freeing employees from tedious tasks, enabling companies to increase productivity while improving working conditions. The advent of cognitive robotics endowed with artificial intelligence is pushing the limits of automation even further, by introducing more autonomy into administrative processes. Ultimately, this skilful man-machine synergy will reshape our relationship to work, paving the way for a virtuous collaboration in which humans and technology will work together to advance our organizations.

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