Communications of the ACM
'The Beginning of a Wave': A.I. Tiptoes Into the Workplace
Artificial intelligence software is automating mundane back-office tasks like accounting, billing, payments and customer service.
Credit: Maddie McGarvey/The New York Times
There is no shortage of predictions about how artificial intelligence (AI) is going to reshape where, how and if people work in the future.
But the grand work-changing projects of AI, like self-driving cars and humanoid robots, are not yet commercial products. A more humble version of the technology, instead, is making its presence felt in a less glamorous place: the back office.
New software is automating mundane office tasks in operations like accounting, billing, payments and customer service. The programs can scan documents, enter numbers into spreadsheets, check the accuracy of customer records and make payments with a few automated computer keystrokes.
The technology is still in its infancy, but it will get better, learning as it goes. So far, often in pilot projects focused on menial tasks, artificial intelligence is freeing workers from drudgery far more often than it is eliminating jobs.
The bots are mainly observing, following simple rules and making yes-or-no decisions, not making higher-level choices that require judgment and experience. "This is the least intelligent form of AI," said Thomas Davenport, a professor of information technology and management at Babson College.
But all the signs point to much more to come. Big tech companies like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft are starting to enter the business, often in partnership with robotic automation start-ups. Two of the leading start-ups, UiPath and Automation Anywhere, are already valued at more than $1 billion. The market for the robotlike software will nearly triple by 2021, by one forecast.
"This is the beginning of a wave of AI technologies that will proliferate across the economy in the next decade," said Rich Wong, a general partner at Accel, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and an investor in UiPath.
From The New York Times
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