{"id":87813,"date":"2016-11-16T09:36:54","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T14:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=87813"},"modified":"2017-04-07T19:10:22","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T00:10:22","slug":"software-robots-humans-obsolete-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2016\/11\/software-robots-humans-obsolete-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Will software robots make humans obsolete in the workplace?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Organisations worldwide are excited about software robots, but for the ordinary Joe, there are already concerns that these robots will replace us in the workplace. We discuss the issue, and highlight an implication that should be of concern in the Caribbean.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The minister said it was difficult to predict how soon some jobs would disappear. However, she said international research has suggested that up to 30 per cent of the work done by people could soon be automated, with workers such as office clerks, truck drivers, factory workers and accountants likely to be among the first to be affected.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n (Source: <\/span>Barbados Today<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Although some of the data that the Minister cited in her speech might be startling \u2013 that up to 50% of jobs in manufacturing, 73% in food service and accommodation, 53% in retailing could be automated soon, and around 66% of jobs] in finance and insurance could be affected \u2013 it must be emphasised that the threat of automation taking over tasks (and jobs) currently \u00a0done by humans is not new. Throughout human history, and especially starting with the first printing press around 1440, innovation has been, and continues to transform how we work, and more importantly, the skills we need to remain relevant in the workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n Whilst most of us are familiar with automation \u2013 robotics being used for physical labour, most notably in the manufacturing industry \u2013 robotic process automation (RPA) is a new and emerging area that increasingly will have an impact in the workplace. In a nutshell, RPA is software that focuses on automating clerical processes. The result is software robots that can, among other things, capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction, manipulated data, trigger responses and communicate with other digital systems (Source: \u00a0<\/span>Institute For Robotic Process Automation<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n However, whilst it might appear that RPA can perform all tasks in the workplace, emphatically, that is not the case. RPA is especially useful for repetitive, rules-based and highly transactional tasks. Cognitive and customer-centric activities, are a few of the areas that continue to remain the domain of us humans. <\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, RPA has been gaining popularity in the IT-enabled outsourcing space, especially in contact centres and business process outsourcing space, where cost containment, process efficiency and client management are crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n Any company that uses labor on a large scale for general knowledge process work, where people are performing high-volume, highly transactional process functions, will boost their capabilities and save money and time with robotic process automation software.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
\nAt the inaugural student conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados, Minister of Labour, Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo, warned attendees about imminent changes in the workplace. Specifically, she spoke about the fact that globally, computers and technology are replacing people in workplace, resulting in the loss of tens of millions of jobs, and Barbados needed to be ready for that eventuality: <\/span><\/p>\nSoftware robots and robotic process automation<\/span><\/h3>\n
RPA and IT-enabled services<\/span><\/h3>\n