When you think of Artificial Intelligence or robots the first thing that comes to mind is likely a cheesy throwback sci-fi movie. You might picture metal bots with red laser eyes taking over a small town, but the reality is that AI and robots are nothing like that. In fact, we rarely see the technology that goes into making our lives easier every day.

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

AI is everywhere. It’s in our phones and our cars, it’s winning Jeopardy and assisting in space travel and surgery. Even though it has become a part of our daily routines, AI still feels like a far-off advancement for many. As the influence of artificial intelligence increases the gap between businesses taking advantage of this technology and those who don’t continues to widen. But what organizations don’t realize is that AI and robotic processes can be utilized in just about every business process. Before we dive deep into the how exactly you can utilize AI and robotic process automation, let’s look at the basic definition of artificial intelligence.

artificial intelligence noun
1 : a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers
2 : the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior

The second definition sums it up best, “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.” This behavior might be in the form of a virtual assistant, such as Siri, Alexa, or Cortana, or it can be as simple as the algorithms on your Netflix account that recommends shows you might enjoy. Recently the spice company McCormick announced that they would be working with IBM to develop an AI that can create new spice combinations, meaning that soon enough AI will directly impact even the spices on your kitchen counter!

How we utilize AI

For PiF, Artificial Intelligence is best utilized through our Intelligent Data Capture solution. This solution is paired alongside our smart Document Management system and takes your content management beyond simply a digital filing cabinet.

You can automatically classify documents and create “rules” for the AI to extract the necessary data that drives critical business applications. By adding an Intelligent Data Capture AI you can move beyond simply document imaging and content management to business process automation to increase productivity and reduce costs.

Put simply, Intelligent Data Capture simplifies and speeds up the processing of your documents in demanding high-volume environments.

What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Robotic process automation (RPA) refers to software that can be easily programmed to do basic tasks across applications just as human workers do. Essentially a robot is “taught” a workflow and its steps and applications. It may include taking received forms, sending a receipt message, checking the form for completeness, filing the form in a folder and updating a spreadsheet with the name of the form, the date filed, and so on. RPA software is designed to reduce the burden of repetitive, simple tasks on employees.

How we utilize RPA
Our clients use RPA in three important parts of their businesses. The first one is that it can complete routine keystroke operations such as opening emails and attachment, copying and pasting data, moving files and folders and filling in forms.

The second is that RPA can run application interface allowing it to report statistics and log into enterprise applications. Lastly, RPA can collect and manipulate data, allowing them to perform actions such as extracting structured data from documents, connecting to systems APIs, reading and writing databases, merging data from multiple places, data calculations, and scraping data from the web. Processes that were typically completed by employees can be completed by the robot, freeing them up for other, more important tasks.

Best of all, a functioning RPA never gets sick. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, further improving your performance and maintaining a high quality of work and virtually eliminating human error.

Is your organization ready for AI and RPA?
Even after gaining a deeper understanding of these concepts you may still believe that your organization isn’t ready yet, but the fact of the matter is the longer

Have questions about how you can utilize AI and RPA within your organization? Schedule a call with one of our experts!