Get Connected: Robotics, artificial intelligence and your business

With the explosion of technological advances that experts are calling our 4th industrial revolution, understanding how your business can benefit from these new technologies and where to start your exploration can be difficult. That’s why ASB recently launched our Get Connected events, where a rotating panel of experts discuss the future of robotics and artificial intelligence.

Despite the handwringing that often accompanies the thought of robotics and AI replacing human workers, speaker Sam Osborne, Managing Director of Virtual Blue, is quick to point out that these technological advancements give workers the opportunity to focus more on creative problem solving, than manual repetitive processes. 

“The technology revolution will radically redefine business models. This is the opportunity to consider not how we take the human out of the workforce but how we take the robot out of the human.”

Sam believes this will be achieved through Robotic Process Automation (RPA), a highly sophisticated software that replicates processes in an automated, reliable and consistent manner. Therefore, you get increased accuracy and productivity as a robot can work 24/7. Processes ripe for RPA could be anything from issuing and reconciling invoices in your Finance department through to processing applications, contracts and employee set up in your Human Resources department.

Sam likens RPA to the arms and legs of a human. The automation will only achieve the outcomes that you program it to achieve. This is quite different from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Brendan Roberts, CEO of Aider, says AI replicates human cognitive capability in three ways: learning, reasoning and self-correction.

He’s in the business of using natural language processing artificial intelligence to surface insights for small business owners. He says voice is not just the future, it’s very much the reality in other parts of the globe.

“Voice adoption rates have outstripped mobile. Much more so in the US and UK than here in Australia and NZ. In the US, for example, there are over 253 million active smart speakers - this is more speakers than there are homes in the US,”

“By 2020 we expect to see 50% of all searches to be made via Voice technology. As businesses, this is one of the things we need to think about. If voice is the way of the future, how does that effect our business model? How do you market yourself – when your customers are experiencing your brand through voice?” Says Brendan.

The Get Connected events bring experts to New Zealand’s business leaders and uncovers opportunities created from new trends and emerging technology. Our next event in Wellington features Brendan Roberts, CEO of Aider, Sharyn Catt, Director of Virtual Blue, Michael Quirke, COO of Mercy Hospital and Anita Parag, Digital Assistant Programme Lead of ASB. If you’d like to learn more and find out about upcoming events, send us an email at getconnected@asb.co.nz.