Making the workplace more human with AI and automation

Predications such as this one by PwC estimate that 30%–40% of jobs will be automated by 2030, especially in the transportation and manufacturing industries. Does this necessarily mean that many of us will become unemployed? Of course, not. Humans will be augmented and enabled with AI capabilities to better perform their jobs, which will in effect free up their capacity. However, new solutions and technologies will require that new skills and hence new jobs and even new industries be created.

How will this inevitable change impact the workplace now and in the future? Let’s take a look at a couple of use cases from the perspective of a knowledge worker’s lifecycle.

Before being hired:

• Augmented writing helps recruiters write better, more compelling job descriptions – increasing chances of generating more interest and attracting more candidates.
• Text analytics-based solutions support candidates in providing all required details and documents, resulting in lower rates of rejected applications and increasing chances of connecting with the right one.
• HR recruitment chat bots operate 24/7 to pre-select candidates and suggest best matching ones based on conversations with candidates over a web or voice channel.
• Advanced analytics solutions suggest the best candidates by sifting through thousands of applications, saving recruiters’ time and allowing them to focus on more important tasks, such as spending the time with candidates and assessing their soft skills

At the moment of hire:

• Once a candidate has been accepted, automation triggers all necessary requests for equipment, access, and badges based on the employee profile. In effect, it initiates automated workflows with pre-defined auto-approval processes and results in automated onboarding as the equipment is delivered to smart lockers.

During the first day at work:

• Employee is greeted by their manager
• Authenticates with face recognition panel
• Collects their badge and equipment from the smart locker
• Connects to the Virtual Assistant, which provides them with all information and guidance they need:
  • Directs employee to in-door, turn-by-turn navigation with a mixed reality solution that takes them to their desk
  • Provides support throughout the day: launches training courses, points to the necessary resources, etc.

At workplace:

• Virtual assistants perform actions on behalf of the employee, for instance booking a meeting or a conference room, or making searching for information quick and efficient with cognitive searches – all to make the employee more productive by freeing up time for collaboration and building relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Voice and speech recognition solutions identify speakers and automatically transcribe and distribute meeting notes saving the meeting organizer’s time.
• Employee books a hot desk and is seated near colleagues based on predictive modelling, which factors in, for example, how much time they spent collaborating with each other, where, and how – making collaboration efficient.
• Communicate and collaborate in various languages with real-time translation through voice and text channels.
• People analytics solutions analyze communication patterns based on email exchanges, calendar entries, chats, and file transfers to predict dissatisfaction, risk of leaving, and to identify silos in the organization and improve team efficiency as well as increase individual productivity and engagement.

All these solutions free up capacity, save time spent typically on mundane tasks, and as a result, shift the focus of work to human qualities – creative thinking, empathy, collaboration, relationship building. At the same time, new jobs have to be created, such as data scientists, AI developers, content designers, AI analysts. Consequently, customer experience, engagement and work culture are improved making workplace more human with the help of AI and automation.

Want to know more? Visit our Connected Employee Experience webpage or contact Lukasz directly.