EFFICACY and EFFICIENCY
Efficiency and Efficacy are the two words which are most commonly juxtaposed by the people; they are used in place of each other, however they are different. While efficiency is the state of attaining the maximum productivity, with least effort spent, Efficacy is the extent to which something is successful in providing the desired result.
Depending on two variables, data complexity and work complexity we can map the Ai Tools solutions offer, and ubicate the solutions close to AUGMENTATION and AUTOMATION depending on the values of those variables, as we can see in the following chart.
Source: Accenture. Applied Intelligence.
https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-84/Accenture-AI-Explained-Overview.pdf#zoom=50
AUTOMATION
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Strictly speaking, because RPA is designed for processes that never vary it doesn’t require any “intelligence” at all.
That said, AI techniques are now being increasingly used in the emerging field of “cognitive RPA”. This enables a process with a degree of variation to be automated, and thus vastly increases the scope of RPA. That can include, for example, using machine learning to train a machine to recognise text in an image (known as optical character recognition - OCR).
Apply RPA.
The result: a 70% elapsed time saving; a 30% productivity benefit; and 100% accuracy. An important point to note: RPA and cognitive RPA do more than simply cut costs. They also bring new levels of consistency and speed to a process, as well as offering 24/7 availability and the capacity to scale the process up and down in line with demand.
Source: PERFORM AI Project.
AUTOMATION
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Strictly speaking, because RPA is designed for processes that never vary it doesn’t require any “intelligence” at all.
That said, AI techniques are now being increasingly used in the emerging field of “cognitive RPA”. This enables a process with a degree of variation to be automated, and thus vastly increases the scope of RPA. That can include, for example, using machine learning to train a machine to recognise text in an image (known as optical character recognition - OCR).
Apply RPA.
The result: a 70% elapsed time saving; a 30% productivity benefit; and 100% accuracy. An important point to note: RPA and cognitive RPA do more than simply cut costs. They also bring new levels of consistency and speed to a process, as well as offering 24/7 availability and the capacity to scale the process up and down in line with demand.
Source: PERFORM AI Project.AUGMENTATION.
Augmenting How you work
1. Working smarter.
When it comes to augmenting worker judgement, machine learning is capable of extracting more meaning from very large and highly complex data sets than a human ever could. An AI can thus see patterns, similarities, and anomalies, where human experts see none.
Consider cancer detection, for example. Human specialists can recognise several hundred malignant patterns in a cancer scan, whereas an AI can recognise thousands.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham have already created an AI that can predict which patients are likely to have a stroke or heart attack within ten years. The AI performed better than the standard methods of prediction.
2. Better experiences for customers.
Using AI, and particularly the cognitive aspects of the technology, a business can vastly improve the way it interacts with its customers. That could mean using digital assistants and chatbots to converse with customers 24/7 through social media and digital platforms. Or it could mean making personalised product or service recommendations on an e-commerce site.
