智能時代，如何與機器人合作？

Making the most of automated tools isn’t just “plug and play.” Successful automation requires a more holistic approach.

最大化利用自動化工具並非通電後拔下即可，而是需要一些整體策略。

Some technology is designed to replace headcount, while other technology is designed to remove repetitive or rote tasks from employees’ responsibilities, freeing up time to focus on tasks with higher returns, says David Poole, CEO of Boston-based Symphony Ventures, a consulting and managed services firm. So, if a call center is using interactive voice response (IVR) technology and is designed to automatically deliver customer data through an interface, the customer service representative can spend more time focusing on the customer and finding solutions based on the latest information, versus looking for historical data or typing information into a platform.

波士頓的Symphony Ventures是一家諮詢和管理服務公司，該公司的首席執行官David Poole說，有些技術是爲了取代員工，而其他的技術則是爲了從員工的職責中去除重複或機械的任務，騰出時間專注於高回報的任務。所以,如果呼叫中心是使用交互式語音應答(IVR)技術，通過接口自動傳送客戶數據的話，客服人員可以花更多的時間基於最新的信息專注於客戶本身和尋找問題解決方案、尋找歷史數據或將信息輸入平臺。

The key to integrating these technologies successfully is to break down each role’s workflow and look for automation opportunities, says Kris Hauser, PhD, associate professor in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Jobs that have elements of retrieving information, scheduling, and calculating numbers lend themselves to being enhanced by automation. By taking those tasks out of the workday, employees can spend more time on activities that are harder to automate, such as interacting with people, thinking over long time scales, developing strategies, and managing complicated work scenarios such as construction.

北卡羅來納州達勒姆杜克大學(Duke University)普萊特工程學院(Pratt School of Engineering)的副教授克里斯•豪澤(Kris Hauser)說，成功整合這些技術的關鍵在於打破每個角色的工作流程，尋找自動化的機會。具有檢索信息、調度和計算數字的元素的作業可以通過自動化增強。通過將這些任務從工作日中剔除出去，員工可以花更多的時間在更難以自動化的活動上，比如與人交流、長時間思考、制定策略以及管理複雜的工作場景，比如建築。

“So, if you’re looking for job security, this might get into more creative or adaptive sorts of fields,” he says.

“因此，如果你想保護好自己的金飯碗的話，就需要尋找一些需要創意或者適應性的崗位。”

Once components of the job are automated, employees need to be trained or coached in how to reconstruct their jobs so their time is spent on high-value activities, Smith says.

Smith說，一旦工作的組成部分是自動化的，員工就需要接受培訓，瞭解該如何調整工作，將更多時間放在高價值的任務上。

EisnerAmper is collaborating with IBM Watson to develop Smart Audit Tools. These tools use AI to analyze documentation, validate source data, and eliminate other routine, predictable tasks, says Charles Weinstein, CEO. With 1,500 employees, enacting a widespread shift in how work gets done is no small feat. But roughly a year and a half ago, he says the leadership team saw the potential—and the necessity—as AI, automation, and robotic process automation become more prevalent among their competitors.

首席執行官Charles Weinstein說，EisnerAmper正與IBM Watson合作開發智能審計工具。這些工具使用人工智能來分析文檔、驗證源數據，並取代其他常規的、可預測的任務。在1500名員工的幫助下，如何完成工作是一個不小的挑戰。但大約一年半以前，領導團隊看到了這一任務的潛力和必要性——人工智能、自動化和機器人過程自動化會越來越成爲他們的競爭對手。

After a three-day offsite meeting with the company’s partners, the leadership team was convinced that integrating more automation was essential. While the firm used to have its people reading dozens and dozens of contracts and comparing them to accounting standards, today Watson does that.

在與該公司的合作伙伴進行了爲期三天的非正式會議後，領導團隊確信整合更多的自動化是必不可少的。儘管該公司過去常常讓員工閱讀幾十份合同，並將其與會計準則進行比較，但如今可以利用人工智能來替代人力了。

“We spend our time analyzing the output from Watson now in helping clients maximize their revenue flows as opposed to reading contracts and comparing it to accounting literature,” he says. Of course, they still need to check that the analysis is accurate, but “the work for our staff is becoming less rote and more advisory, which is a good thing,” he adds.

“我們花時間分析Watson的產出，幫助客戶實現收入最大化，而不是簡單地閱讀合同，並將其與會計文獻進行比較，”他說。當然，他們仍然需要檢查分析是否準確，但他補充說:“我們工作人員的工作越來越少，將更多時間放在諮詢服務上，這是一件好事。”

Weinstein says that kind of refocusing strengthens clients’ relationship with the firm and makes employees more valuable. In addition, they have more flexibility. More work can be done remotely because they don’t need to be in the office, reading contracts and comparing numbers. HR teams, managers, company leaders, and the employees themselves must recognize that these changes will shift the fundamental assumptions about and requirements for how work gets done and respond to those shifts, Smith says.

Weinstein說，這種調整可以加強客戶與公司的關係，使員工更有價值。此外，員工享有更大的靈活性。更多的工作可以遠程完成，因爲他們不需要在辦公室閱讀合同和比較數字了。Smith說，人力資源團隊、經理、公司領導以及員工本身必須認識到，這些變化將改變人們對工作的基本假設和要求，並對這些變化做出反應。

However, the transformation of work is only as good as the tools that facilitate it–and the ability of people to use them. Many of today’s automation tools have significant limitations and require human input and management to be most effective, Hauser says. You can’t teach the system to do more than it’s designed to do, he says. However, by giving it feedback or making tweaks to its programming, a company and its workers could make it better. A very simple example of how humans can give feedback to help refine a system is spam filtering. As you mark certain email messages as spam or not, the platform begins to be more effective at filtering out what you don’t want and keeping what you do. Similarly, if an automation platform has feedback mechanisms, employees should be trained to use them to improve the system.

然而，調整工作與使用工作中的工具一樣重要。Hauser說，當今的許多自動化工具都有很大的侷限性，需要人工輸入和管理才能最有效。他說，你不能教這個系統做的比它設計的要多。然而，通過給予反饋或對其編程進行微調，企業及其員工可以讓它變得更好。一個非常簡單的例子，說明了人類如何能夠提供反饋來幫助完善系統，這就是垃圾郵件過濾。當你將某些電子郵件標記爲垃圾郵件時，平臺開始更有效地過濾掉你不想要的和保留你所做的事情。類似地，如果一個自動化平臺有反饋機制，員工應該接受培訓，以更好地使用系統並改進系統。

As new technologies emerge, new security concerns do, too. Employees need to be trained in how to keep such platforms safe from cyber criminals, to the extent that they can control, Poole says. And HR professionals are going to need to integrate these tools into their own work, as well as become part futurist, looking at the skills that will be needed for certain roles in the long-term and recruiting for those skills, Smith says.

隨着新技術的出現，新的安全問題也會出現。Poole說，員工需要接受培訓，讓他們知道如何讓這樣的平臺免受網絡罪犯的傷害，達到他們能控制的程度。Smith說，人力資源專業人員將需要將這些工具整合到自己的工作中，結合未來發展來使用工具，着重學習長期需要、並且可以幫助他們獲得工作的技能。

People are also going to have to accept new ways of getting things done, especially when they’re more efficient, and be forward-thinking about where technology will disrupt traditional jobs, Hauser says. For example, within the next two decades, autonomous vehicles will fundamentally change how goods and people are transported. Understanding how those shifts will affect your company and your employees’ roles will be essential for maximizing the potential for both through retraining and reconstructing their roles.

Hauser說，人們也將不得不接受新的方法來完成工作，特別是當它們更有效率時，並且要預測何時這些技術會取代傳統工作。例如，在未來20年內，自動車輛將從根本上改變貨物和人的運輸方式。瞭解這些變化將如何影響你的公司和你的員工的角色，對於通過重新培訓和重構他們的角色來最大限度地發揮員工潛力是至關重要的。

These changes also require a shift in culture where employers recognize the value of the employees’ new roles, while helping them make the most of their opportunities. Some workers may not be comfortable with the higher-level tasks or responsibilities of their new jobs. “You have to focus on being analytical and problem solving,” he says. “How do you get people comfortable with the uncomfortable? Change management,” he says.

這些變化還要求企業轉變文化，讓僱主認識到員工新角色的價值，同時幫助他們充分利用自身優勢。有些員工可能不適應新工作要求的高級別任務或職責。“你必須專注於分析問題和解決問題。怎麼才能讓人們適應原來不能適應的環境? 那就是改變管理方式。”