Great question for 2023, right? Talk of AI and robots is everywhere these days. But automation (in its simplest form) has been around for centuries.
In the late 1800s, the way we connected changed with the advent of the telephone. We went from being able to communicate by how quickly the railways, trolleys, and feet of the postal workers could deliver mail to speaking on the phone in real-time, hundreds of thousands of miles away.
This era also ushered in some necessary evils. Now, switchboard operators were required to manually unplug and plug telephone lines all day, every day. What started as a new job in the economy quickly became mundane, repetitive, and exhausting. Only a few people know this, but switchboard operators were a part of the telephone experience until the 1960s and 1970s.
Continue reading to see how in the context of automation, what is a robot and how will it impact your business.
Automation and robots in the modern workplace
So, what does the telephone have in common with robots and automation? Well, let’s take a look at the progress we have made:
➡️ The earliest wheels developed by the first humans evolved from horse and carriage to motorized vehicles to the self-driving car.
➡️ Interoffice mail is now shared cloud storage, Slack, or Teams.
➡️ The printing press, invented in 1440, where every letter was set by hand, was replaced by the printing press, and now, eBooks, audiobooks, and the great wide interwebs.
➡️ The compass has been replaced by multiple mobile map apps (Google Maps, Waze, AllTrails).
As you can see from these examples, every innovation eventually becomes outdated, creating additional, unavoidable opportunities for tedious work.
That means age-old problems like burnout, low morale, and low job satisfaction are just as prescient as ever. That’s where business automation, human ingenuity, AI, and, yes, robots come together.
Humans + robots = a recipe for automation
In an age where knowledge workers have a million tasks on their plates, it is more important than ever for business leaders to eliminate tedious work.
If you can’t allow your employees to do their best work or provide customers with better support, you’ll see your clients churn, and your employees leave for greener pastures.
The good news is that automation is on the verge of a new and wildly innovative era. The advent of AI and the proliferation of interconnected cloud software means we can now have tools that prevent those byproducts of progress. We can build end-to-end processes where human involvement is only needed when necessary, and your team can do their best work.
How to bring automation to business
In the context of automation, a robot can help your business streamline processes and provide better customer service. Whether it’s an AI-powered chatbot or a robotic process automation tool, robots are here to stay — and the possibilities for automation have never been brighter. All you need to do is find the right automation tool for your business and figure out how to use it effectively.
So, don’t be afraid of automation — embrace it! Robots can help you create a more efficient workplace with faster customer service, fewer headaches, and happier customers in the long run. It’s time to start automating and get back your valuable time.
3 Ways to automate your business with AI, robots, and people
Automate (some) of your customer service
Using AI chatbots to answer customer inquiries quickly and accurately saves your team time and energy. Choosing to upgrade your traditional help desk to an automated help desk can free up your team’s time to work on higher-value tasks. Killing those Tier 0 and Tier 1 support requests is key to business automation in 2023 and beyond.
Human-in-the-Loop automation:
Keep humans in the automation process with Human-in-the-Loop automation, a collaboration between humans and robots. This workflow automation model allows people to stay in control as bots carry out mundane tasks like data gathering and document sorting.
Eliminate manual processes:
Humans don’t have time for repetitive, manual processes. Use automation tools to create accurate, efficient automation processes that don’t require human input. Automating tedious tasks frees up your team’s time to do the more important things — like innovate and problem-solve.
Robots and automation are no longer the stuff of science fiction — they’re becoming a reality in the modern workplace.
So, are AI robots taking over the world?
No, of course not. While changes are always happening in the modern workplace, it just means the work looks different these days, much like it did when we saw the telephone evolve.
We hope you gained some insight and found answers to the ultimate question: “In the context of automation, what is a robot?”
So embrace automation in the business world and get ready to watch your company soar. Let the robots do what they do best: Take on tedious tasks so your team can focus on where their talents are really needed.
Implement AI and automation tech today with Capacity! Try it for free, or request a personalized demo.
