MIT
To see opportunities for machine coworkers, it's important to have some understanding of excellent and not-good use cases for Machine Coworkers based on where tech is at now. This requires understanding how machines think and what they can and cannot do on their own. This diagram is a cool resource or cheat sheet to assist in deciding if this is a job a machine could do. For a deeper dive, click through to their PDF report for a more thorough understanding of roles and future use cases of AI.
When considering the concept of Machine Coworkers one of the first topics that comes up is AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its impact, both current and potential, on our global economic workforce and social cultures. This whitepaper dives into the history of AI and example use cases by specific industry. It's a deep dive, but worth a scan to get a full sense of how many ways AI is already working in all kinds of contexts.
When we think about AI and business, we tend to think of automated production lines and robots taking jobs away from humans. However, if we shift our thinking and consider how we can redesign business processes to work with machines, the future gets much more exciting. Collaboration, not competition, is key.
Machine Coworkers are a concept that goes beyond robotics and industrial applications. Bots or 'software robots', also known as 'digital workers' can be built to "Think>Act>Analyze" in many job roles. These machine coworkers work alongside human employees to augment business processes.
To help small business owners see the ways they can incorporate AI into their processes, Small Business Computing asked experts and business leaders for suggestions. From automating billing tasks to curating optimal user experiences, this is a great collection of use cases that could spark some new thinking for you about how to leverage digital coworkers.
Business automation software makers Digital Workforce have formed their brand around the mindset of digital coworkers, and do a great job of exploring that perspective on their site. Notice their use of personable language as they describe what digital coworkers can do, referring to these systems as members of your team who are "taught" or "assigned" tasks, and are capable of human actions like "sensing" and "comprehending".
This quick read from Zapier outlines how to build a habit of noticing and taking advantage of opportunities where a machine coworker could help you or take things off your to-do list altogether.