The question of how quickly businesses and economies should make a timed shift, not only with its infrastructure but with its culture, offerings, supply chain and its core processes is often asked, especially with technology rapidly evolving. Well these changes and digital transformation, although necessary, take time, and is not as simple as just moving data to cloud.
Today, it is estimated that companies and countries have increased their innovations spend by up to 80 percent from 15 years ago, and the increase in automation through the rise of ‘bots’ have become the next big thing for organisations across various industries in the world.
Speaking in an interview with journalists during the recently held 2019 SAS Analytics Experience in Milan, Italy, Desan Naidoo, vice president, SAS Africa, said there would certainly be a tier level of workers that would be displaced due to the evolving nature of jobs brought about by technology.
“There is going to be a tier of jobs that will definitely be lost due to machine learning and computers being able to fulfil a certain sector of roles within that space, but using machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance people’s roles,” Naidoo said.
Asked what the future of Africa would be with regards to machine learning, especially as it is projected to displace millions of people from jobs in the near future and the company’s plans for this evolvement, Naidooo told BusinessDay that; “As an organization that is looking to displace these jobs with technology, we are definitely having conversations on how to train people for new level jobs. I think there needs to be a lot of education around that, and how we actually retrain our people which is important.”
“The evolution of technology is inevitable, it is going to happen, and it is going to make our lives easier and better, so we as humans need to make sure that we are evolving,” he said.
In Nigeria today, the use of robots and artificial is not new, especially with banks, e-commerce companies, insurance industries and fintechs. Other industries such as agriculture, health, education, etc. have also imbibed the use of certain AI technologies to enhance operations.
In an interview with BusinessDay a while ago, Wole Adesiyan, head, business transformation of Stanbic IBTC bank said the bank had gone ahead to introduce robots which is a game changer in its operations as it has significantly improved operational efficiencies, created shorter resolution times, enhanced data security and improved data handling.
“We believe in preparing for the future without ignoring our environment and the culture of our people. We also encourage our colleagues through learning and development to prepare for a future that includes Artificial Intelligence and robotics process automation. If a machine can do your job, prepare for a better one,” Adesiyan said.
Almost all banks in Nigeria have introduced chat bots and automated a considerable amount of their customer service centres, displacing a number of customer service representatives.
However, some people have argued against the take over of some jobs by automation and robotics.
Speaking on the significance of robotic process automation (RPA) in the workplace, Alistair Hofert, associate director, finance and accounts, PwC South Africa, said that robotic process automation will make it possible to fully automate highly rule-based/repetitive processes, thus reducing headcount and associated costs but that not all RPA’s are intrusive and may still need some sort of human intervention.
“I think it is important that people in finance and technology know that the RPA is not an intrusive robot and will not take over jobs of people as is the popular scare in many industries. Rather, the RPA software sits on existing software, learns and is very good at understanding and applying intelligence.
When you add machine learning to basic robotics, you must teach the robot how to understand voice and language so that you can use things chat bots and natural language processing bots. So it still needs human beings,” Hofert said.
Research has shown that there is a high likelihood for companies to invest more in automation and innovative technology, hence the pressing need to train citizens for the job of the future.
Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
