Day 4 – Artificial Intelligence

The next decade may well see the arrival of physical androids wandering our office corridors …I was sitting at the computer contemplating what to blog about today when it occurred to me that a post on artificial intelligence (AI) might be helpful. We are increasingly reliant on technology, in and out of the workplace, but does it pose a threat to the Personal Assistant?

A newsfeed recently caught my eye: ‘Meet Amelia: the computer that's after your job’.  Amelia is an artificially intelligent computer system that can read and understand text, follow processes, solve problems and learn from experience. Frighteningly, it could replace humans in a wide range of jobs. 

Having worked in artificial intelligence 25 years ago, I’ve been waiting a long timefor these robots to take over routine and tedious tasks, particularly filing! ButI don’t personally believe they would ever take over the PA role.

Artificial intelligence has certainly come a long way in the past 25 years. Amelia learns by following the same written instructions as her human colleagues, yet she can absorb information in a matter of seconds. She understands the full meaning of what she reads rather than simply recognising individual words. Amelia can quickly apply her knowledge to solve queries in a wide range of business processes. And amazingly she can learn from her colleagues by observing their work, as she continually builds her knowledge. She is also fluent in 21 languages both written and spoken.

 This all makes me a little jealous. But rather than view Amelia as a competitor for my job, I think she would make a great ally and co-worker.  She could take over-time consuming tasks such as arranging meetings, managing IT support and searching for the best restaurant in Tokyo, the list is endless. This would leave me free to do more creative tasks and projects. 

Also vying for my attention is Amy Ingram, a human-like AI personal assistant that schedules meetings for busy executives. Simply by emailing Amy, she lets you and your contact know where and when to meet. What makes Amy remarkable is how human-like her emails are.

Hot on their heels is Cortana, your personal assistant if you have a Windows Phone or use the new Windows 10. She's there to make things easier. She has access to view your calendar and location to remind you of meetings, tell you what the weather is like and provide you with traffic alerts. Cortana can also find events, places of interest and spots to eat and drink nearby. She will be on my PC very soon.

There’s also Siri if you use iPhone products. In the UK Siri is male (but this varies from country to country) and has been around for a while now.  He helps you get things done and can send messages, place calls, make dinner reservations and much more. 

All these intelligent personal assistants may take over some elements of the PA role but I’m confident they won’t replace us. Rather, they will support us as long as we keep our IT skills up-to-date, so we can get the best out of them.  I for one will be glad of their assistance if it means I can leave the office by 6 pm!

Do you use any of these artificially intelligent assistants already?