What is the digital workforce and will it replace us?

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What is the digital workforce and will it replace us?

It’s a common cliché in science fiction: our machines advance beyond us to a state that they no longer require us to function and begin the process of replacing us entirely. Before you know it, we’re living a genuine dystopian nightmare!

The truth, however, is a little less Terminator and a lot more Silicon Valley.

It’s only natural to be dubious of change, but the digital workforce shouldn’t be seen as an enemy; if used properly it’s an ally that can help your workers to make better decisions and work more efficiently and effectively.

Industry 4.0

We sit on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution that will bring with it the kind of changes that businesses often baulk at instinctively before eventually realising the fundamental benefits they represent. It was certainly the case with internet adoption, as it wasn’t until the 21st century was properly underway that many businesses decided to digitise their operations and move online.

The benefits of embracing new technology in business are well-known but there will always be those that lag behind. Indeed, a study from 2017 that questioned 400 senior managers, 31% admitted to a lackadaisical approach when it came to technological innovation.

There’s no doubt that this new industrial paradigm is going to be disruptive but as long as businesses can harness this disruption and the opportunities it represents by moulding their practices around it then they certainly stand to benefit and benefit big. The key lies in achieving this disruption whilst mitigating the effect on the human workforce because there are bound to be those you employ who are worried about being replaced by intelligent automatons.

Intelligent automation

Intelligent automation refers to a more advanced form of what is commonly known as RPA (robotic process automation). In essence, it represents software mimicking end-user behaviour by finding, evaluating, cutting, calculating, transforming and entering data according to set business rules: Digital workers that can work alongside human workers, taking care of what amounts to the ‘grunt work’ and allowing human workers to spend more time on the work that requires more creativity and flexibility. It has potential applications in several sectors where processes are labour-intensive and easily automated and can give businesses a serious competitive advantage thanks to its low-cost scalability.

A 30% annual growth is expected in the sector over the next five years and that means that digital workers are going to be an unavoidable part of most businesses, whether they like it or not. To get out ahead of the pack, the forward-thinkers must have a keen idea of where the human workers will fit in a digital world, how the relationship between “bots” (as they tend to be known colloquially) and humans will work and how the structure of the organisation will need to change to accommodate this new status quo.

The digital workforce

According to Microsoft founder, Bill Gates: “In the short term, people overestimate the impact of new technology and in the medium term they always underestimate it.” Such is the case with digital workers or bots. Only a few years ago, when the technology was still nascent, enterprise bots were heralded by many industry scaremongers as the great human replacement operation. Today, however, with the ‘medium term’ very much in full swing, enterprise bot adoption is soaring, with chatbots (arguably the most common members of the digital workforce) to be utilised by 80% of enterprises by 2020.

The problem is, many businesses are still unsure of what exactly to do with their digital workforce and how to make it work alongside their human workers. The ‘big boys’ are, of course, leading the charge: IBM and Accenture have both spent the last few years re-skilling and up-skilling their workforce to work alongside these new digital co-workers and Amazon recently pledged to spend $700 million to train 100,000 employees by 2025.

Still, these examples are few and far between, with only one in five organisations claiming they are prepared to handle the looming capability gap that is set to widen as the digital workforce becomes mainstream. They should really consider acting with some urgency, as we estimate that around 20% to 30% of all enterprise activities in the next five to ten years will be automated and 60% of those activities will require human to ‘robot’ interaction.

So, the key for businesses is not asking whether or not these bots will replace us, but how they can be used to augment human productivity and vice-versa; how humans can be trained to augment the work done by their digital counterparts.

Adaptation, not replacement

The digital workforce is going to profoundly change how we work, the skills required, and the operating models we deploy, but it’s not going to replace us. 90% of the FTSE 250 have instigated some form of automated programme in recent years and the vast majority of these programmes are not replacement schemes, but programmes engineered to automate the tasks that human workers would find tedious and do them that much more efficiently.

Market forecasts by Juniper Research predict strong growth in chatbot interactions from 2.6 billion in 2019 to 22 billion in 2023, with enterprises expected to cut costs at that point by up to $439 billion a year. With those kinds of figures staring you in the face, it seems ludicrous to deny the potential here and this is just chatbots, which are allowing human call centre workers to focus on the cases that genuinely need them, leading to increased productivity for the business and increased satisfaction for the end-user.

If the digital workforce is scaled and positioned as a strategic enterprise asset and operating models are able to be reorganised around it then the age of the intelligent, helpful and ‘friendly’ digital workforce might finally be upon us.

If you are about to embark on automation or are scaling up your digital workforce, we’d love to talk to you. Whatever stage in your journey, we can help. Find out more about our Robotics services and solutions here.

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"2025 and Beyond" Question and Answer session

26 Feb, 2024

Our webinar 2025 and Beyond: Why Your Hiring, Learning, and Culture Need to Evolve brought together thought leaders Enrique Rubio (Hacking HR), Lisa Skinner Källström (Teamtailor), and Hydrogen Group’s Dean Jennings and Michelle Miller. The conversation explored strategies used to tackle the challenges of the future workforce, shift organisational cultures towards lasting partnerships, and ensure teams are equipped for the age of artificial intelligence. _ The Q&A box was brimming! Our webinar offered participants the chance to consult our HR experts on addressing shifts in the people and culture realm as we approach 2024 and beyond. Interesting questions were raised, and we compiled them all to seek and reached out to our experts to get some definitive answers. For a recap on the webinar, check out our blog Navigating the Future: Insights from our Webinar "2025 and Beyond" So, here we are. Your questions - answered! - How can companies make people feel more secure in their jobs? Is it just a matter of increasing communication? Lisa suggested a shift towards a more sustainable approach. 'In recent years, we have seen many companies experience massive growth, and the need to get great talent onboard - hence offering extremely generous compensation packages. Unfortunately, many have now faced layoffs, and while the compensation and benefit strategies are not the sole reasons, I would like to propose a more sustainable approach for the future. [Increase benefits as the company grows, and as business results allow, we can increase pension levels or similar benefits – and discuss it internally! Open dialogue about results, investment choices, and their rationale fosters a sense of involvement among team members and signals the company's commitment to a sustainable direction.]' Dean echoed concerns about job security in today's volatile economy and advises, 'In today's uncertain economic climate, job security is a concern. However, by becoming indispensable and embracing tools like AI, individuals can enhance their value to employers, securing their positions for the future. Apart from using Chat GPT, what other tasks can be automated with AI? Lisa commented, ‘We’ve mentioned a few examples already, but I would look at all the systems your company allows you to use and question your suppliers on what features are or will be based on AI. For example, many applicant tracking systems allow the opportunity for AI to summarise CVs for an easy overview, generate interview questions and suggest more personalised replies to rejected candidates based on their CVs. Also, the opportunity for AI to transcribe an interview is an amazing tool which allows the interviewer to solely focus on listening and talking to a candidate as opposed to taking notes. As always, AI in these types of systems is not designed to make the decisions for a recruiter or business - but serve as an assistant to save time and work more efficiently.’ Dean added, ‘There are far too many to list. The AI directory https://aitoolsdirectory.com/ does a really good job of showcasing what does what and where you can find it.’ What is the impact of AI on employee engagement and how can HR teams use AI to promote engagement? Also, what precautions should professionals take when using AI? Dean offered his perspective by stating that ‘engagement and AI may seem contradictory, but there's a clear benefit when HR uses AI to streamline admin tasks, freeing up time for vital human interaction. Tools like Koios, for instance, offer Acoustic AI, helping HR understand team and individual personalities better, for more tailored approaches. Professionals must approach AI implementation carefully, ensuring ethical use to maintain trust and transparency in the workplace.’ How can we make sure our services stay personalised while using AI? Dean responded, ‘By leveraging AI to handle time-consuming tasks. The best thing about AI is that you get to choose what it does and what it doesn’t. If you feel strongly about human interaction to enable personalisation, you don’t have to let go of that – just embrace AI to make those interactions better. Get it to strip data in the background for you, or to type up your notes and actions as you have the conversations. The possibilities are endless, and they can be tailored to your needs.’ Within your businesses, have you experienced any resistance to the adoption of AI? How have you handled these objections? Dean responded, ‘A lot of the resistance I have seen has either been a fear of trying or a fear of being caught. There seems to be a negative connotation with AI, that if you get it to do something for you, are you cheating? The answer is a resounding no, you are working with the tools available to make yourself more productive for your organisation. Robot proof recruiter, if you haven’t read it, you should. Especially if you are a recruiter or if recruitment is part of your job role. I’ll spare you the details, but it is an amazing read that showcases the fact you can never take the people part out of recruitment - you’ll always be able to provide a better level of service than a robot (at least for now) and you need to focus on the parts of the process where human interaction is at its most vital and automate/utilise AI to get back time in your day to improve that social element of the process.’ Do you feel Employee Resource Groups will be on the rise with the future generation of workers? Dean replied, ‘A truly hybrid workplace cannot function effectively without the right technology in place. That doesn’t even need to be AI. For employees to feel a sense of belonging in a workplace, there should be a seamless experience that goes beyond just having teams up on 1 laptop in a room full of 30 people. Again, this will only advance with time ... my eutopia is to have my whole team (who are based in the UK + Thailand) sat around a virtual desk, on a beach with an interactive whiteboard we can utilise in real time via virtual and augmented reality. You may laugh now, but in the next couple of years, VR and AR tech will be the staple of hybrid working and teams coming together around the globe. This doesn’t take away from the in-person experience and nor do I think it should. It should be a tool that compliments real-time working solutions.’ How can we support older generation employees in the changing landscape? Dean offered his perspective, ‘AI is truly remarkable. It embodies the futuristic vision many of us had as children—computers and programs taking on tasks for us. For those uneasy about it, I believe it's a matter of not fully comprehending it or lacking the skills to use it effectively. AI has quietly become a part of the workplace, and many are still navigating its intricacies. The focus should be on empowering employees to leverage AI to enhance productivity and value to the organisation. Those who resist or fail to adapt won't be replaced by AI but by individuals who embrace change and view AI as a tool for greater contribution.’ How can we safeguard against the risk of AI stifling creativity in the workplace? Lisa said, ‘I would say the opposite, if we use AI for the more regular and routine tasks then we will have more time to use to be creative! For example, instead of spending hours on creating a presentation for an important project - let AI do this creating for you and spend the time on how you want to engage with your audience instead. Using ChatGPT to find easy tasks that I would previously have spent a lot of time on has been a big change in how I work and allows me find space in the day.’ Is there a regional divide across different parts of the world? Are Europeans more prone to appreciate safety/job security than Americans? Lisa commented, ‘My thoughts are that globally we have been through a lot in recent years, covid affected everyone regardless of location. After that, we had war in Europe for the first time in many years which had major effects on the economy, which I believe has made people appreciate job safety even more and value this in choosing their next employer. However, in some parts of Europe employees are still very protected by labour laws etc so I believe it is different from America where it is more common to have short notice period and less resistance from employers to terminate an employment.’ Expanding on the key themes discussed in our webinar, we're thrilled to introduce our Thrive Guide – a practical roadmap for building a thriving workplace. Within the Thrive Guide, discover actionable strategies to enhance employee engagement, foster diversity and inclusion, and implement flexible working models. Discover practical solutions to enhance workplace productivity and satisfaction. As our expert Dean Jennings emphasises, 'adapting to evolving workplace dynamics requires strategic initiatives.' This sentiment is echoed by other industry leaders in our webinar. In the Thrive Guide, these insights converge to offer practical solutions, providing a roadmap for organisations navigating change. Revolutionise your workplace. Download the Thrive Guide now!