Organizations need to start strategizing now on how to leverage next-generation intelligent content automation platforms. These platforms are emerging as the most effective way to infuse intelligence into documents, automate critical business processes, and make document discovery as intuitive and responsive as the concept of “sentience” implies.
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have significantly simplified the way we engage with large banks of knowledge. The next logical progression is for enterprise documents to carry a built-in understanding of what they are and what they contain, enabling us to “speak” directly to them.
I’m envisioning a future where we live and work with truly intelligent documents. And honestly, the emergence of such documents couldn’t be more timely. By 2025, global content creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes or 180 trillion gigabytes.
A step-change in how business will work with its greatest asset: information
But we’re not just drowning in data; we can’t figure out how to make it work for us. Some estimates put the level of information stored on business computer systems as 54% ‘dark,’ i.e., not accessible (what are you doing with all those thousands of hours of Zoom meetings?)—a huge feature in the estimated $3.1 trillion of lost revenue from poor data quality in the U.S. alone.
But this is all about to change—and dramatically. In just a few years, clinicians will be able to use speech commands to instruct their patients’ clinical reports to automatically prioritize cases based on cancer risk. Lawyers drafting contracts will query their case files to identify any potential contradictions or conflicts with new agreements, while insurance claims agents will simply ask a file in their inbox what it is about, which policy it’s linked to, and whether the claim is reasonable.
I call this the dawn of the “sentient document”—a revolution that could be the most significant advancement in document automation since the invention of the printing press. This new generation of highly responsive documents has the potential to transform how enterprises understand and leverage their business content, along with the wealth of work patterns and corporate knowledge embedded within it. Imagine performing a visual walkthrough of your entire company’s information library, where language barriers disappear—you could ask a question in English about a Korean RFP and get an immediate, accurate response in either language.
See also: Your 2024 Automation Blueprint: How Leaders Can Navigate the Automation Boom
Welcome to a world full of “sentient” documents
These are self-aware, communicative documents with insights and content so interconnected and intelligent that they become effectively “sentient,” capable of sharing information about themselves.
Rather than searching, we will be able to directly ask business questions of billions of intelligent documents and other pieces of organizational content and make decisions based on a summarized, intelligent response. As content becomes more “sentient” and capable of communicating its own information, the burden on overworked professionals to manage thousands of daily emails will diminish significantly.
In fact, business email is already in sharp decline, increasingly replaced by more spontaneous and collaborative platforms like Teams for workplace communication and content exchange. Even for still-entrenched triggers of email communications—such as requests for information, actions on invoices, contracts, or applications—these communications will soon automatically announce and identify themselves, organize into the appropriate folders, or initiate automated processing based on their type and priority level.
Sound far-off? In reality, the sentient document is already here. Some of my company’s customers are already using automated systems that read all their incoming emails, categorize and understand embedded documents, and take intelligent actions based on them.
For instance, SEW-EURODRIVE—a global leader in industrial automation—efficiently automates over 5,000 custom orders daily. The company uses 90+ embedded custom “Content Apps” to automate order workflows, from creating CAD designs based on custom order forms to scheduling the manufacturing and delivery of their products.
Bots that sit in for you at the next meeting?
AI also holds the potential to eliminate the hassle of attending meetings. Just as in-person meetings have largely transitioned to virtual ones, the next logical step is for workers to send bots to meetings. These bots could observe the discussions, take notes, and even raise the points you would have made if you had the time to attend to yourself.
In such a new wave of more efficient business meetings, you’ll only be needed when your expert input or a next-level decision is needed. In the meantime, AI and deep learning tools will do the basics, freeing up knowledge workers’ valuable time for higher-level tasks and decisions.
The good news is that algorithms are constantly improving, and as long as teams invest time in training their bots, the results will quickly refine, gradually reducing the manual workload. You could say we’ve entered an era of true human-robot-content collaboration, where AI draws key findings together and creates the map while humans focus on the best direction to travel across it.
We’ve clearly reached the limits of RPA
It’s also worth noting that sentient documents will quickly outpace robotic process automation (RPA). While RPA tools are effective at handling routine tasks, their role in the document management hierarchy is rapidly being overtaken by true document intelligence.
However, simply automating application workflows —which, while time-saving, isn’t necessarily transformative—won’t be enough. RPA doesn’t “understand” what it is doing, so it cannot adapt intelligently, as a business requires. Next-generation AI is key to this shift, as it will help teams not only automate but also adapt and improve content processes. By understanding documents and intelligently selecting the right approach to handle them, as well as using machine learning to analyze and improve your current workflows, AI can identify better pathways to achieve your business process goals.
To achieve this, information and content managers need to start strategizing now on how to leverage next-generation intelligent content automation platforms. These platforms are emerging as the most effective way to infuse intelligence into documents, automate critical business processes, and make document discovery as intuitive and responsive as the concept of “sentience” implies.
