AI and Robotics

•      AI is not Robotics

•      AI is not automation

•      But AI may be used in both

AI and automation technologies often get conflated because they are both linked with disruption of the jobs market.

Computers don’t suffer from limitations that plague human beings. They’re not restricted by biology, they don’t get tired, they can process information for long hours, and they’re exceptionally capable of doing repetitive and mathematical tasks.  

AI in itself is not the same as an automation process, but often AI and automation go hand in hand. AI can use predictions to direct automation processes and use data fed-back from these processes to make more predictions in a virtuous cycle. The main automation tools used with AI are robots – both the physical and software varieties.  

Physical robots are the easiest to comprehend because we are used to seeing robots in factories and in the media. Software robots are functionally the same – they automate repetitive tasks – except that the moving parts in a software robot move bits instead of atoms. 

In terms of physical robotics, AI can be embedded into autonomous machines. The highest profile of these are driverless vehicles. Tesla, for example, has over 1.3 billion miles of training data for its driverless vehicles.

Figure 13. AI is a key component in autonomous vehicles. Image Created by Freepik

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), is about applying robotic principles to organisational processes. The typical cost of an RPA software agent compared to a typical offshore Business Process Operation (BPO) Full Time Employee (FTE) is about 1/3, so it’s clear that RPA has an attractive ROI. RPA can also work with technologies such as Blockchain which enables the ownership of real assets to be controlled digitally through ‘smart contracts’.

RPA works for scenarios with the following features:

·      Rules-based, predictable, replicable

·      High volume and scalable

·      Rely on multiple systems

·      Where poor quality results in high risk or cost

For example, Goldman Sachs’s replaced 600 traders with 2 traders, supported by 200 software engineers. They also used robotics to halve the 127 human steps taken in an IPO process.

Other examples include: 

·      JPMorgan uses robotics and AI to do in seconds what took lawyers 360,000 hours

·      Foxconn replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots

·      JD.com processes orders with 1 person instead of the 500 it previously needed

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