PNB’s Human Resource Head Bong Austero recently arranged a Robotics workshop attended by PNB’s Board and Senior Management Team. Yes, you read it correctly: robotics! We assembled our own robots and programmed them to move in a specific way. It was challenging at first as we familiarized ourselves with programming language, but once we moved to the testing stage when we checked if our robots were moving in the way we wanted them to, it became fun.
The workshop was capped by an engaging activity where we pitted the robots against each other in a friendly “robot war.” My robot lost to PNB’s youngest director Vivienne Tan, with the robot of Chief Credit Officer Nanette Vergara as overall winner.
You might be wondering what baby boomers and veterans were doing assembling and programming robots which is an activity associated with millennials. Or maybe you are wondering why bankers were undergoing a learning session on robotics. That’s because robotics is no longer an object of enthralment in sci-fi movies or pocketbooks. Robotics is already here and its many applications, reinforced by artificial intelligence, are pervasive in all activities, including banking.
We see applications of robotics everywhere — automated toll gates at superhighways, self-driving vehicles in manufacturing plants, robotics surgery in hospitals. The top five banks in Japan, Europe and the United States all have one thing in common — they are now rolling out the first prototypes of company robots that will handle routine customer information requirements and other repetitive tasks. Robots are machines that can be programmed to perceive, move, modify, or process the physical properties of objects thereby freeing manpower from doing repetitive functions. Robotics is the domain in artificial intelligence that deals with the study of creating intelligent and efficient robots.
Thanks to advances in computing technology, robotics can now be learned intuitively, just like learning to operate an iPad on one’s own. Anybody can learn how to do it with the right mindset, being open to change, innovation, and new technologies.
Actually, robotic applications have been with us for quite some time — it’s just that most of us have not been conscious about them. For example, automated teller machines are really robots that do what human tellers used to do, which is count cash and dispense it over the counter. Today, there are ATMs that accept cash deposits or perform other financial transactions.
The most common application of robotics nowadays is in robotics process automation which involves the use of programs that mimic processes done by human workers to accomplish routine, repetitive, non-value adding tasks. Today, most companies employ what are called chat bots to respond to basic customer inquiries or to perform basic requests such as changing passwords.
Will these mean that robots will replace people in the workplace? Repetitive and tedious back office tasks done manually may now be accomplished by virtual robots that operate from the desktops of employees. But no matter the level of sophistication, robots will not be able to replace humans completely. Robots will take over the repetitive tasks allowing people to focus on innovation, creative problem solving, better customer interaction, and other tasks that require higher thinking skills.
The challenge for leaders is to design the emerging workplace in ways that effectively harness the synergy between robotics and artificial technology and people. In the shorter term, the imperative for everyone is to start appreciating the potentials that robotics have in terms of helping people do their jobs faster, better, and smarter. We need to start learning about robotics and artificial intelligence, just like what we did recently. We had lots of fun as we witnessed how the robots we assembled and programmed performed in the friendly competition staged at the end of the workshop. There were a number of learnings that I took home from the robotics workshop foremost of which was that the old truism “you cannot teach old dogs new tricks” has really become irrelevant.
Advances in instructional technology have made learning engaging for all kinds of learners including the “young once.” But equally important was the realization that while robots will never fully replace human capability, they can improve efficiencies in the workplace significantly through significant reduction in errors, increased turnaround time and accuracy, and major cost savings. Indeed, robots and robot process automation will transform business and banking in many ways.
Flor G. Tarriela is Chairman of Philippine National Bank. She was the first Filipina Vice President of Citibank N.A. and was formerly Undersecretary of Finance when Jose T. Pardo was DOF Secretary. She is a natural farmer and an environmentalist.
