Robot Process Automation meets AI equals…The End of Work?

Robotic Process Automation sounds like something which you would expect to happen in a food factory or a car plant.  A concept brought to life using a mechanical arm, compressed air and conveyor belts.  A child of the 20th Century, not the 21st. It isn't. It is the future.

Robot Process Automation (RPA) is the business of configuring computer software to emulate the action and outcome of a human being interacting with a digital system in order to complete a business process. It is the fastest growing sector in the software industry.

It is a sector that has just produced its first $10 Billion company.  UiPath moved into the RPA space in 2015.  In 2015 it was worth $7 million.  UiPath have been referenced as a leader in RPA by research firm Gartner ahead of established giants like Microsoft and Samsung.

In UiPath's owns words:

RPA robots are capable of mimicking many– if not all – human user actions. They log into applications, move files and folders, copy and paste data, fill in forms, extract structured and semi-structured data from documents, scrape browsers, and more.

Adding AI to RPA opens up almost limitless opportunities to automate intelligent, cognitive processes—driving productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction to new heights.

From such dry language we can start to divine the future.  Decision after decision will be driven by a need to reduce overheads and deliver shareholder value.  Intelligence and cognitive behaviour, previously the realm of the sentient; now the business of an API.

What does this mean for workers?  It means radical and painful change is coming.  And right quick.

The American Action Forum see the future in stark terms:

At the mid-point scenario, 400 million jobs worldwide will face automation by 2030, while 800 million jobs worldwide will face automation in the fastest rate. McKinsey suggested that United States could lose between 16 million and 54 million jobs between 2016 and 2030.

Bleak?  Yes.  Hopeless?  No.

The Council for Human Development is leading the way in training people for the AI revolution, we work with companies and individuals to change their sense of self identification, and thus increase their levels of creativity, communication and consciousness.

We will help you optimize your workforce to partner with AI or work with people coming off headcount, to retrain them and give them sustainable employment.

If you would like to book a free exploratory call with a Partner or Trainer from the Council of Human Development contact Anna Hiltensberger on anna@councilforhumandevelopment.org.

For more information please visit our website or download the free pdf [Addressing Human Resource Issues for 2021, copyright CHD 2021]