The question of “do bots replace human jobs” is a good one. Questions about robots in the workplace, the future workplace, and can robots replace employees are complex and requires nuanced answers. At Valenta we believe the answer for bots is no. It is our experience that bots replace human work and let humans do higher value work. This fact is why we are so focused on providing bots and automation for our SMB clients.
To have a clear understanding of this topic bots versus robots deserves consideration. The subjects of robots in the workplace, can robots replace employees, and the future workplace is heavily influenced by pop culture’s depictions of a dystopian future in movies like The Terminator, and TV shows like Black Mirror and Westworld. Robots can indeed replace human workers in manufacturing and in areas like supply and logistics. Self-driving vehicles may one day lead to reduced needs for human truck drivers or mass transit workers. For the most part though, robotics lead to gains in other areas of the economy and within the sectors they transform.
Let’s take a look at how bots can replace work and not jobs, how bots can make things better for human workers, how bots make things better for business, robots versus bots, and machine learning to get a clearer picture of robots in the workplace, bots in the workplace, the future workplace, … plus can robots replace employees and do bots replace human workers.
Replace work not jobs
When it comes to software bots that we have deployed for our SMB clients, they are used for doing repetitive rules-based tasks that are typically unproductive and unpleasant work when done by humans. These mundane and repetitive tasks are not the best use of a human worker’s time or skill set. They require constant attention and typically not much critical thinking. When we provide bots for our clients, workers who were previously doing these tasks are redeployed to higher value tasks, work that requires creativity, and work that is more focused on customers and face to face (in person, video or phone) interactions. In our experience, when bots are deployed, the human workers and the bot form a symbiotic relationship and each does what they do best. This aspect of using the right tool for the right job, and leveraging the best resource is the true future workplace scenario … and far from a dystopian future, it is a better one.
How do bots make things better for human workers?
Way too often the subject of robots in the workplace, bots in the workplace, the future workplace, can robots replace employees or if bots replace employees completely neglects the topics of why and how bots make things better for human workers. The work that bots can take over is work that people do not want to be doing and do not enjoy. Workers do enjoy being creative. They do enjoy interacting more with customers and clients. They do enjoy being more productive and making greater contributions in the workplace. And bots can enable all these things. Studies have found that worker and employee job satisfaction at companies where bots and RPA have been deployed has improved dramatically. A bot is a tool, and it is a tool for the 21st century. A plough was a tool that powered the Agricultural Revolution. Steam engines powered the start of the Industrial Revolution. Bots will help power the Digital Revolution. The human experience was improved by these past revolutions and will be transformed positively by the Digital Revolution as well.
How do bots make things better for businesses?
Bots don’t only make things better for human workers. They make them better for the businesses that use them as well. Please see our blog, “Why Should a Business Implement RPA?” for a deeper dive on this topic. In this blog we discuss how businesses can save money, improve accuracy, increase productivity, improve compliance, and provide better insight and analytics. Companies can also use bots to offer new value propositions to customers and execute new business models. Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, Airbnb, all heavily leverage AI and bots, and all have led to job creation – not job loss. Leading Fortune 1,000 companies have deployed bots in their accounting, IT, operations, HR and sales departments and employment rates have been steady. SMBs can also benefit from the same and at Valenta we are here for that. If anything, bots have slowed the rise in offshoring which might be the one area that has seen an impact due to automation. Bots might be mildly disruptive, but the benefits to workers and companies is obvious.
Robots versus bots
Questions around robots in the workplace, the future workplace, and can robots replace employees create confusion and unneeded anxiety when it comes to software bots. The bots used in back offices of the companies involved in the Information Economy are vastly different from robots. Bots are just another type of software and not different in this regard than a database, a spreadsheet or the browser you are using to read this blog. Robots certainly do have a greater direct impact on human jobs. Bots typically do not. Robots in supply and logistics, or manufacturing are replacing human workers, but robotic programming jobs are created, and robot managers are needed. You do not need to look any further than an Amazon warehouse or logistics centre to see the impact of robots. Yet, Amazon is hiring more new workers than nearly any other company in the USA. The automotive industry has leveraged robotics at a rapid clip, and still 1.7 million people are employed by this industry globally. The impact of robots and bots on human jobs is overblown, unneeded and unwarranted.
What about Machine Learning
Let’s take a quick look at ML or Machine Learning. AI, Self-Learning and Machine Learning are additional Boogeymen in the dystopian future so popular and captivating in pop culture. Yet, it is humans that program the machines. It is always humans writing the applications that enable bots, robots and the other aspects of AI. Data scientists are always going to be needed to create, manage, monitor and tweak these new 21st century tools. It is not a self-replicating process, and it requires new data and human input. Increasingly, humans and machines/software will work together. For some, they can assume the worst and create dystopian visions of the future. The opposite however is what we are seeing with year over year productivity gains that create greater wealth and comfort for all humanity. The bottom line is that our machines and software applications are only as smart as the humans who program them.
Conclusion
The answer to the question of “do bots replace human jobs” is nuanced. Robots have way more of an impact on human jobs than software bots. In our experience, bots do not replace human jobs … they make them better, and they make workers more efficient. Both bots and robotics are additive and provide benefit to today’s workers and today’s companies. At Valenta, we are here to help SMBs leverage bots and automation in the same ways that Fortune 1,000 companies do. To learn more about how bots can help your business, please contact us here: Contact us