Since the 1960s, there has been a quest to find ways to address the tidal wave of paper deluging organizations. The latest technology that is being applied is AI. A case study — an effort at a healthcare insurer — provides five lessons not just applicable in projects aimed at reducing paper but also for other AI initiatives as well: 1) The goal should not be automation; it should be to get the work done in a cost-effective manner. 2) A successful application of AI may not mean lower employment. 3) AI can allow employees to focus on higher-value work. 4) The savings come from increases in scale made possible by higher productivity and quality. 5) Involving employees who have been performing the function in the AI project is essential.
In the 1930s, executives in the Bell system realized that the growing use of telephones would soon create such complicated network challenges that it would overwhelm the ability of mechanical switches to keep up. So they launched a drive to create transistors as a faster, far cheaper alternative.
