Feb 2016 imageSouce Digital Edition

Office Workflow
Distinguishing AI
At the intersection of these three mega trends, we find data
management solutions that leverage AI engines and algorithms to
help companies sort important business information from all the other
“stuff,” enabling good decisions and smart records management. Not
surprisingly, many technologies have started marketing themselves as
AI, so it’s important for you to understand the different types of AI
and what those differences mean for your customers.
Many businesses today are living with complex information
challenges, because the products available in today’s marketplace
simply are not capable of solving these problems. Unfortunately,
as companies continue to develop software using traditional
methodologies and practices, they will be unable to address these
challenges. Today’s data problems require a different approach—an
innovation in the very way we develop software. Here’s where AI
algorithms become critical, because they allow systems to evaluate
problems involving very large data sets much more quickly than
today’s linear programming. An AI engine looks at the problem from
an all-new perspective.
How Does AI Operate Differently?
Alan Turing was a British mathematician who postulated two
theories of AI, both of which underlie modern computing. First,
classical or deterministic programming includes software applications
that execute a known series of steps in a pre-programmed sequence
to arrive at a solution. These applications work well when working
with a known data set that has a limited number of known
possible outcomes. Most of today’s computer applications fall into
this category. Second, non-deterministic AI engines can explore an
exponentially large number of inputs to arrive at a previously unknown
output through the recognition of patterns and categories of data. In
an area of AI known as machine learning, these non-deterministic
engines learn and adapt; they are not taught. This is the area of AI
that promises dramatic breakthroughs in our ability to intelligently
manage data processes.
Confused?
Without diving too
deeply into the complex
mathematical formulas
underlying AI, you can
explain the advantages
of AI to your customers
using this analogy:
Let’s assume you are confronted by the challenge of determining
which door in a hallway filled with an infinite number of doors
conceals a prize. A traditional, deterministic application would open
each door in turn as it sequentially moved down the hallway until the
prize is located. Alternatively, a non-deterministic AI engine would
approach the challenge from a new angle—perhaps finding a way
to open all doors simultaneously or it may peek over the wall to see
where the prize is hidden. The end result is that the non-deterministic
engine solves the problem much more quickly and less expensively
than the traditional software application.
18 imageSource February 2016
Real Customer: Saving Time & Money
on AP
The ability of artificial intelligence to more quickly and accurately
sort information can play a huge roll in streamlining processes for
your customers. For example, reducing the processing time and cost
of invoices is a perennial goal for many CFOs, and AI can help, as
demonstrated by MSI Mold Builders.
Headquartered in Cedar Rapids, IA, Mold Builders designs and
makes custom manufacturing molds. They receive about 1200
invoices monthly, and were struggling to address them effectively
in a paper-based environment. To help automate AP processes, they
implemented an ECM system in 2015, which included an artificial
intelligence engine to classify invoices by type and extract important
data for their accounting system. Thanks to the AI assist, they have
shortened invoice processing time by more than 45 minutes per
invoice and reduced the cost per invoice by almost $50.
Jason Sojka, the Network and Computer Systems
Manager said, “PaperVision Forms Magic has
revolutionized our AP processes! We’ve been able to
cut our invoice processing times by more than 75%!
We’re saving the organization money and improving
relationships with our business partners.” These
improvements result in total annual savings for Mold
Builders of $676,000.
Artificial intelligence based technologies offer exciting possibilities
for businesses to improve process efficiencies, boost control of
information, and save money. These innovations are just starting to
hit the market of products you can add to your offerings, so take the
time in 2016 to understand how AI can impact your business and can
grow your revenue opportunities over the next decade. You don’t
want to miss this important technology trend!
About Digitech Systems, Inc.
Digitech Systems, Inc. enables
businesses of any size to more
effectively and securely manage,
retrieve and store corporate
information of any kind using either PaperVision® Enterprise
content management (ECM) software or the world’s most
trusted cloud-based ECM service, ImageSilo®. Digitech Systems
has moved ECM from a luxury convenience to an essential
element for every well-managed business by improving
efficiency, boosting information control and saving organizations
money. They are the source for EfficiencyNOW! ControlNOW!
MoneyNOW! ECMNOW! Digitech Systems continues to raise the
standard of excellence in the ECM sector, as evidenced by the
numerous awards they have received including the InfoWorld
100, CRN’s Emerging Tech Dynamos and multiple Nucleus
Research ROI Awards. In addition, Buyer’s Lab has recognized
both PaperVision® Capture and PaperVision Enterprise as the
best products in the enterprise capture and ECM fields.
To learn more about Digitech Systems’ software and services that deliver any document,
anywhere, anytime, visit www.digitechsystems.com.