Humans and AI coexist and complement each other in the modern workplace, especially with ‘botless meeting assistants.’
We need both to thrive in today's workplace. That's why our company pioneered the concept of "botless technology" with Shadow. By seamlessly integrating AI capabilities without being disruptive, we enable humans and AI to collaborate optimally - AI handles the repetitive grunt work efficiently, while humans can focus on the creative, strategic aspects they excel at. It's about maximizing the strengths of both resources for an innovative and productive workforce.
Let’s be honest, did you use ChatGPT this week? I know you did because I can’t remember the last time I didn’t. AI is inseparable from the human work force now, but why the sudden attraction and adoption?
The widespread popularity is in large due to AI allowing us to really allocate our resource. AI can indeed automate certain tasks, mostly things those categorized as administrative or repetitive. But the unique skills and qualities possessed by human employees render them indispensable in many roles. So the long story short? With the decrease of certain occupations, new ones will be born that don’t exist yet. But let’s take a look at what kind of work is being handled off to AI.
I can’t quite find the article but I remember reading about how certain jobs would’t exist in ten years. That article came out before AI and the tech craze was a thing. I’m talking ancient desktop times that were years before Covid. While I can’t link you to the source, I distinctly remember seeing lawyers on that list. Hearing that lawyers would go extinct sounded almost impossible. I mean can you imagine having to go through a questioning with a robot or a computer? It all seemed way too unnatural and unreliable.
Lucky for us, our court rooms are filled with lawyers and not computers. BUT that article wasn’t entirely wrong because the administrative tasks that lawyers had to do years back, they no longer need to handle themselves. Instead AI has the ability to handle legal documents in seconds. If you look deep into the work that AI is taking care of, it’s associated with tasks that you wouldn’t mind handing to a literal robot.
Why? Because at the end of a day a machine is faster than a human.
Let’s go back to the lawyer example. According to a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters in 2018, legal professionals reported spending an average of 14.1 hours per week on document review and analysis. This includes tasks such as reviewing contracts, researching case law, and analyzing legal briefs. And in a study published by the American Bar Association (ABA), it was found that lawyers spend approximately 60% of their time on administrative tasks, including document review and drafting. Now all this time can be spent on client work rather than documentation.
You probably get the point of how AI saves loads of hours so I’ll move on to the details of how it saves time.
Time is saved by AI through automating administrative tasks. AI is a harbinger of a technological revolution. It holds the potential to automate a wide array of tasks and processes. Most evidently, we can see AI working its magic on routine administrative duties and complex data analysis. AI excels in tasks that require less cognitive effort and prioritizes efficiency and accuracy. The benefits of AI is evident in the stark comparison between the time it takes AI to complete a task versus a human employee.
That’s why a lot of tools have been popping up under the realm of productivity. The technology of AI and its ability to automate repetition and process data at lightning speed is the biggest attraction of utilizing AI. At it’s core, automation drives efficiency by streamlining repetitive tasks and minimizing the need for manual intervention, thereby freeing up valuable time and resources that can be reallocated to more strategic endeavors. You can even say you’re giving off the work you don’t want to keep doing to a machine.
If it’s faster and more efficient, why not just keep handing off all your work right? Not quite. Tasks that require creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence are best left to humans because AI hasn’t quite mastered this part yet. While AI may excel in data analysis and pattern recognition, it cannot replicate the depth of human intuition and empathy. For customer service representatives, a lot of work is considered to be repetitive but not all their work is handled by AI despite the efficiency aspects. AI chatbots excel at giving quick answers to FAQ but they can’t provide the emotional support that customers may need if it comes to more specific situations.
Despite the cost benefits of switching out all customer service representatives to AI bots, that’s simply not the case because humans provide compassionate care that goes beyond just diagnosis and treatment. Humans possess the ability to adapt and be flexible. Because sometimes (most of the times) it’s not just a composition of logical patterns but about attributes that are invaluable in navigating complex and dynamic work environments. So instead of having ONLY AI or ONLY human workers, now we have botless technology that is still AI-powered that provides the efficiency of AI and the EQ of humans.
The seamless integration of AI into the workplace does not imply a future where humans are obsolete. Instead, it highlights a co-dependence where both humans and AI complement each other’s strengths. This symbiotic relationship has given birth to what is known as "botless technology" – systems designed to enhance human capabilities while keeping the process seamless and non-generic.
After months of speaking with users and trying to figure out what they need, I am going to coin the term ‘bot-less’ and ‘bot-free’ for the first time officially today. The term botless or botfree didn’t even exist until a few months ago actually and we kind of used it as an explainer to our technology. But with the increased adaption of AI and the increased need for AI that felt natural and didn’t stray too far away from our day-to-day workflow, more users started looking for the concept behind ‘botless’ and ‘bot-free’. Not to brag, but Shadow is the original and first of its kind when it comes to botless meeting AI assistants. We even have hand written notes referring to botless AI, dating all the way back to 2019.
The short answer is that we found the uninvited visitor intrusive, annoying, and distracting. It’s like paying for Youtube Premium only to be surprised by an ad. The response isn’t going to be positive.
You might go home and tell your partner about the day you had at work, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to bring your partner with you to work. The same way it doesn’t make sense for them to follow you around at the office, it’s unnatural to have a bot following you to meetings.
The relationship between humans and AI in the workplace is a testament to the power of collaboration. By recognizing the strengths and limitations of both, we can create a more efficient and innovative environment. AI handles repetitive and data-heavy tasks with precision, and in turn humans can focus on creativity and complex problem-solving. The emergence of botless technology and botless meeting assistants is an example of this co-dependence. You’re using an AI tool to enhance and assist your currently workflow, not to replace and overpower.
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