Bots are the new hotness that Microsoft, Facebook, and others hope will be the next tech phenomenon, supplanting the maturing app market. It makes sense that Facebook and Microsoft would be looking for the next big thing, since they largely missed out on the app gold rush and were relegated to the role of software provider on Apple and Google’s platforms. At their most basic level, bots are cloud-based text-driven software that have some modicum of natural language processing and AI capabilities and are designed to complete / automate tasks. In particular, they’re well suited for tasks that involve tying one web service to another — for example integrating Skype with Slack or Facebook Messanger with 1-800 Flowers’ ordering service. Granted your desire to order Dominos may not be nearly as keen as Microsoft would have had us believe during their recent Build conference in which they featured a bit for just that purpose, it shows the real impact of bots — automating low level clerical task. Put more bluntly, white color job elimination.
It may seem overblown to say bots are coming for your white collar and that’s likely because right now their coming for your assistant’s. If you had a bot that could manage your calendar do automated customer outreach and some basic bookkeeping / reporting why have an assistant at all?
Not only do bots have the potential to do your assistant’s job but a bot doesn’t come with all that pesky liability. Think about it. Bots can’t be on payroll, so you avoid the wage and all payroll taxes. Bots don’t get sick. They won’t ever need parental leave or berievment time. They will never look elsewhere for better paying employment or try to renegotiate their wage after you’ve invested in them. They can’t file a complaint if they feel they are being treated unfairly. And for all the Silicon Valley bros, you can sexually harass a bot all day long and be totally safe from a lawsuit as well as the corresponding bad press.
This may all seem a bit brutal but as someone who employs people in one of the most employer hostile states in the country, I often have to look at a candidate and weigh the various risks holistically before making a hiring decision and the reality is for low value clerical work, I’d do well to avoid the expense and liability with a bot. Now, if only I could pick a bot framework….
