Automation is already having a significant impact on how businesses handle orders, complete projects and serve customers. From machine learning to creating software robots that perform the kinds of repetitive tasks that most humans avoid. Robots are not only capable replacements for people for these types of jobs; they can perform data entry and simple processing more quickly too. Best of all, when you incorporate automation into your workflow, your employees end up with more time to work effectively and can perform their jobs more efficiently as well.

When you add machine learning into the mix, those automated features and functions can perform tasks that require logic and learn as they do so. Each time a robot completes a task, it remembers what steps and changes were needed to make the next project or process even more streamlined. An automated robot can also learn to spot problematic orders or interactions and alert a human operator to intervene or quarantine the order or data until it can, but it also enhances.

Machines and automation excel at logic and defined tasks but are not ideal candidates for creative projects or those requiring creative thinking to resolve. Automation can recognize and flag projects or processes that require human intervention, but can’t come up with any “outside the box” solutions.

What Does the Growing Interest in Automation Mean for Employees and Employers?

Automation changes the way we work and could eliminate some jobs and even fields in the coming years. Some industries will be impacted more than others, but automation reduces the need for people to handle rote tasks – and increases the need for individuals with critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills. Every industry is different, and some will be impacted more than others:

Healthcare: Automation and robotics are already in use for everything from surgery to training and the handling of patient data and records. Automation will continue to be useful for the processing of insurance claims to the patient intake process; actual patient care requires empathy, experience, and even creativity and is unlikely to be altered much soon.

Entertainment Computers dominate the actual processes involved in making everything from video games to movies and television programs, and automation can be used to perform critical tasks – but it is not creative or forward thinking. Expect to see humans using tech to produce entertainment, not the other way around.

Service Industries: Machines can and do complete tasks and services, but a real human is still best of the social and emotional side of things. Automation can be used to enter customer data, engage clients and even ensure that prospects get the correct documents and information when they are shopping around; the human element is still needed to pull everything together.

Insurance: The insurance industry has already begun to embrace automation for claims intake, and processing and automated robots could start to edge out their human counterparts in some areas or positions. Data entry and similar roles are easily filled by automated robots, but actual decisions on claims will still require human involvement.

Accounting Perhaps the heaviest hit industry by automation – bookkeepers, and CPAs are already being replaced by automated programs and solutions. Automation is changing this industry and the way we attend to our taxes and personal finances.