Robotic Process Automation in an AI World

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – the use of software with embedded machine learning and AI capabilities to automate manual tasks – is a technological trend transforming industry processes. Without RPA, many repetitive activities (e.g., invoice processing, customer onboarding, report generation) require significant manual effort. Although custom code can reduce this effort, RPA often allows for automating rule-based tasks with greater speed and transparency. The next stage for RPA is to move beyond rules-based to more pattern-based judgment. While we can codify many processes, some activities should be more tailored (e.g., marketing content creation, IT management). This talk will cover examples of "intelligent" process automation, using standard AI capabilities (e.g., text analytics, image recognition, advanced OCR/ICR) and pattern-based predictions.