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AI and intuitive automation are ‘deeply interconnected’
For law firms implementing AI tech in their day-to-day operations, having intuitive automation in place is equally important and can drive better client outcomes.
Lauren Croft
Zahn Nel is the regional vice president for Australia and New Zealand at Actionstep. In a recent episode of LawTech Talks, produced in partnership with Actionstep, he discussed the headline challenges in adopting and utilising AI effectively, as well as the importance of having intuitive automation tech in place alongside AI.
AI and intuitive automation are deeply connected, according to Nel, who explained that intuitive automation is not just workflows.
“We’ve actually abbreviated intuitive automation to IA, which is very different from your traditional automation and workflows. The key about intuitive automation, or IA, is that it mirrors the way that humans naturally work. So, when was the last time that you were impressed or even delighted by a software feature, something that really triggered automatically,” he said.
“Let’s take an example where you were trying to log into something on your phone. And then you get sent a secure six-digit code by a text message. Now, not too long ago, you had to go to your text messages. Then you need to try and remember that six-digit code, which is challenging for some of us. Then you have to type it in, and then you get it wrong. Then you time out, then you have to try it again.
“Now, when you get that text message, you don’t even have to leave that application. That six-digit code gets automatically added to your application, and you’re able to log in. Now, that’s not AI; that’s intuitive automation. So, it’s basically what you would expect should happen next happens without you having to think about it or do anything about it.”
As such, there are a number of key risks to adopting AI without intuitive automation.
“If we look at those two concepts together, this was probably one of the key takeaways for me, [which] is that AI and IA are not mutually exclusive. They’re actually deeply interconnected. And when you look at the benefits of AI, it’s very much, it could potentially be that it’s data silos. So, AI creates data. Where does that data live? Where does that content live? How do we truly get the full benefits from it or reuse it or learn from it if it’s not really incorporated into your central system?” Nel said.
“So, with intuitive automation, it ensures that your processes are consistent, repeatable, scalable. And then what it does, it brings AI in at the most beneficial time for the organisation. So, the risk is potentially not making full advantage of it and creating silos of data and content. That’s probably the biggest one that jumps out for me.”
As a result, there are various practical steps firms can take to adopt both AI and intuitive automation, including having structured processes in place and knowing which tasks you want to automate, according to Nel.
“The key for success with intuitive automation includes really freaky aspects. So, it’s skilled people, well-defined processes and the right technology. From a people perspective, it’s extremely important to understand the balance between the human elements. So, the people with the structured processes and the right technology processes, you need to understand what good looks like and what bad looks like,” he said.
“What are those repetitive tasks? Where are the bottlenecks? That should be goal-driven as well. And then look at how [you can] automate those repetitive tasks and then look for ways to reduce those manual efforts and potential backlogs. And then with intuitive automation technology, AI technology, you bring the technology together, and that connects the people and the processes, and then that becomes part of their everyday life.”
Better utilising AI and IA in tandem can, therefore, have tangible benefits for firms moving forward, added Nel.
“One of the tangible best outcomes is actually the legal output, like the client outcome; what are we hoping to achieve for our clients? Because at the end of the day, yes, it’s about creating efficiency, yes, we can create some more accuracy. Improving the quality of legal outputs or improving the outcome for clients is probably the ultimate goal, but how we do that is by improving efficiency and creating accuracy,” he said.
“Because, I mean, we all work differently, we all capture data differently. So, if we can find solutions and systems that help us to be more consistent [and] be more accurate, then we will achieve the goal of better client outcomes. So, I think the benefits all come down to delivering a better client outcome.”
The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Zahn Nel, click below:
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
