Many businesses have turned to Robotic Process Automation to carry out repetitive and time-consuming tasks, where historically, using RPA for processes with limited complexity and well-defined rules resulted in higher accuracy and efficiency—as well as reduced costs.
However, when business processes increase in complexity, RPA proves less reliable. In those situations, most businesses would do well to find a more powerful, flexible solution.
Enter intelligent automation.
The Benefits of Intelligent Automation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is creating a sea of change, altering the way businesses simplify and expedite complex workflows, where processes like mortgage loan originations, benefits claims, and social services programs are prime candidates for smarter automation practices.
With AI offering so many benefits, companies desiring greater flexibility and resilience have begun shifting from RPA alone to intelligent automation solutions, where machine learning (ML) and AI work alongside humans for faster and more accurate data processing, end-to-end automation, and increased operational scalability.
Intelligent Automation Vs. RPA
Where Robotic Process Automation relies on rigid templates and can break down or result in poo exception handling when a process changes, intelligent automation has the
ability to continuously learn and adapt to changes in business processes. This makes intelligent automation suitable for accomplishing increasingly complex tasks with higher accuracy, greater connectivity, and improved flexibility.
When to use RPA and when to use Intelligent Automation
RPA is an excellent solution for well-structured processes with clearly defined rules and minimal variation. For more complex tasks, intelligent automation offers greater efficiency, as less time is spent correcting the errors that might result from a less flexible solution.
When evaluating RPA vs intelligent automation, the two solutions are ultimately suited for different tasks. Here’s a quick breakdown of where each solution shines.
| Use RPA for | Use Intelligent Automation for |
|---|---|
| Copying and pasting structured, machine readable data | Classifying diverse document types, streamlining the indexing and sorting |
| Clicking and dragging files through various file paths | Extracting machine readable data from complex documents (handwritten, machine printed, low resolution, or distorted) |
| If / then statements | Involving human supervision only when needed, validating data against other sources, enriching data |
| Opening emails & attachments without understanding the context or content | Extracting intent, sentiment, keywords, etc. for better decision-making |
| Making calculations | Routing data to your preferred platform for faster processing |
Going Beyond RPA with Intelligent Automation
As business processes grow in complexity, intelligent automation represents a shift in the approach to automation, where machines imitate human actions and possess cognitive abilities. Intelligent document processing (IDP) is a powerful example of intelligent automation in action, helping organizations increase efficiency and accuracy when dealing with huge volumes of data. These smart, teachable solutions can comprehend structured and unstructured data, as well as learn from ingested data, making it possible for businesses to optimize these complex processes more fully.
To discover how your organization can benefit from intelligent automation and intelligent document processing, watch an on-demand demo of the Hyperscience platform here.
