6 Best AI Tools and Robots for Workplace Automation
Reading Time: 5 minutes Self-driven cars were invented to avoid the accidents that happen due to human error – and 93% of car accidents fall into this category. Over 1 million people die worldwide due to car accidents.
It means that if we could eliminate human errors, we could save more than 930 thousand of these people.
Self-driving cars can use the GPS system to decide the best path to take depending on the traffic conditions on different routes. They also use cameras and a battery of sensors to recognize the dynamic road conditions like crossing pedestrians and road construction and take decisions accordingly. It is expected that soon the cars will be able to interact with each other and share data related to destinations and acceleration speeds – allowing them to navigate smoothly and avoid accidents.
Similarly, in a workplace, Artificial Intelligence tools and Robots solve a lot of problems that occur due to human errors or inefficiency. Here are the six best AI tools and robots that can be used for workplace automation:
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Software Bots
Did you know that the most common use of Artificial Intelligence was the automation of physical and digital tasks? According to an article published in Harvard Business Review, Tom Davenport and Rajeev Ronanki studied 152 projects to reach that conclusion.
Like humans, software bots (or codes on servers) called Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Technologies consume information from different IT systems and use them as inputs as and when required.
They can do many low-skill tasks like:
- transferring data from emails and call center systems to update customer files (to change addresses or add services),
- handling customer communications and replacing their lost ATM or credit cards (and updating records),
- extracting information from multiple documents and billing systems to identify issues which lead to failures in charging for the services, and
- reading legal documents and contracts, and extracting the relevant provisions.
RPA is said to be the least expensive cognitive technology in the workplace. It is easy to implement and brings a high return on investment. They are more affordable, eliminate human errors, do not get tired, and reduce your need to maintain employee records.
Customer Self-Service Solutions
Amazon Go is a grocery store in Seattle, Washington that does not have a cashier or a checkout station. You can just go and pick up an item off the shelf, and it gets added to your virtual cart. When you return the item to the shelf, it gets removed from your virtual cart. You can link your spouse and children to your account too, which means that anything they pick up will be added to your bill too.
This innovative technology uses geofencing, deep learning algorithms, sensor fusion, and computer vision to enhance customer experience and automate the supply chain and inventory management.
Interactive digital signage and self-checkout systems can automate the customer-handling processes in different industries. Some of the leading examples are:
- Bill payment kiosks where customers can go to a particular location and pay one or more bills through cash, debit or credit card, check or NFC.
- Retail kiosks where customers use AI-assisted kiosks to order products, pay bills, use loyalty cards or credit cards, and apply for jobs and take standardized tests.
Storebots, which fully automate the sales experience in a retail store, are also becoming increasingly popular.
Industrial Robots
Robots are widely used in verticals that involve heavy industrial-scale workloads, such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. The Internet of Things (IoT) has imparted these robots ‘intelligence’ to learn and operate autonomously – even in semi- and unstructured environments.
This kind of workplace automation involves advanced electronics, data analytics, and high-end software and algorithms.
Collaborative Robots (Cobots) that can safely work alongside humans are innovative tools that can be picked up by any management student as their essay or dissertation topic. Management assignment help experts can help students and consultants to highlight how cobots and industrial robots are excellent tools for workplace automation.
Robots that Save Lives
In 2011, Krista Jones was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and was headed for a double mastectomy. It was an alternative treatment plan that used big data and algorithms that healed her completely.
Video Source: CBC
Dr. Peter Kim and his team have created an autonomous surgical robot called ‘STAR (Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot),’ which can do some medical tasks better than human surgeons. CloudDX, developed by Toronto, is an AI-driven health startup that is building algorithms to check patients’ vital signs and gather other crucial data.
Automating tasks that are susceptible to human errors in the healthcare industry can minimize the rate of medical complications to a great extent.
Digital Assistants
Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, and IBM Watson are excellent virtual assistants that can handle online chats and voice calling easily. Samsung Bixby can take and upload images too. These digital assistants use speech recognition, natural language processing, machine learning, and statistical analysis tools to interpret and process questions and commands, and present data, options, or other business objects accordingly.
Businesses are increasingly using digital assistants that can quickly provide answers to random questions from the clients as well as the workplace-related questions. For example, SAP CoPilot is a smartphone app that works as a virtual assistant in enterprise settings.
Content Developer Robots
Almost all the businesses are now using social media to reach out to new clients, and convert their existing customers into a loyal customer base. Hence, a software company called Acculation has come up with AI tools and algorithms to use data-driven processes to make the best social media content decisions.
These tools can create the best content for the businesses by repurposing the most popular social media posts of a company into cool videos, 3D printed objects and other virtual items.
Once you have a repository of a few hundred articles, these AI tools can pick and choose your most popular content and present it in different formats to keep attracting clients for you.
With these AI tools and robots at your automation service, your workplace and people’s lives, in general, will undoubtedly become more productive and safer shortly.
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Co-Authored With
Aditya Singhal is the co-founder of Transtutors, a leading Online Education platform for college students. Having graduated from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Delhi, Aditya has a personal interest in helping students.
