Age of Invisible Machines: A Practical Guide to Creating a Hyperautomated Ecosystem of Intelligent Digital Workers

by Robb Wilson, Josh Tyson (Editor)

Overview

2022 Wall Street Journal Bestseller

 

Cut through the hype and unlock the game-changing potential of conversational AI.

In Age of Invisible Machines, celebrated tech leader Robb Wilson delivers an eye-opening and startlingly insightful blueprint for leveraging conversational AI in order to make your organization self-driving—with a growing ecosystem of interconnected automations accelerating all aspects of your business.

Conversational AI is changing the nature of every job at every company (starting yesterday) and this book is relevant for anyone who will be affected by the acceleration of these technologies. You’ll learn how to develop a strategy for hyperautomation by identifying the outdated processes and systems holding your organization back. You’ll discover ways of internalizing and orchestrating new technologies that are force-multipliers for rapid growth. A must-read for every business leader, Wilson’s book debunks common myths about conversational AI while laying bare the inevitable complexity of restructuring your business to unlock the massive opportunities this new era affords.

You’ll also find:

• Compelling discussions of the ethical dilemmas that lie in wait as mass adoption of conversational AI takes hold
• Fascinating explorations of what a self-driving organization looks like and how you can use conversational AI to create a durable competitive advantage
• Strategies behind creating an ecosystem for hyperautomation that any company can begin implementing immediately
• QR links to ongoing, interactive online discussions of the material covered in each chapter

An essential and practical discussion of the future of conversational AI and hyperautomation, Age of Invisible Machines belongs in the hands of founders, entrepreneurs, business leaders, designers, tech enthusiasts, and anyone else with a stake in the future of business.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119899921
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	293,026
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

ROBB WILSON is the founder, lead designer, and chief technologist behind OneReach.ai, the highest-scoring company in Gartner’s first Critical Capabilities for Enterprise Conversational AI Platforms report. Robb has spent over two decades applying his deep understanding of user-centric design to unlocking hyperautomation. He built UX Magazine into the world’s largest experience design publication while creating a full-service UX firm that competed with IDEO and Frog Design. In addition to collecting over 130 awards across the fields of design and technology, Robb has held executive roles at several publicly traded companies.

JOSH TYSON is an author and producer who’s held leadership roles with a variety of organizations, including TEDxMileHigh and UX Magazine. Josh co-hosts N9K, a podcast from the future, and his writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times and Thrasher.

Visit: InvisibleMachines.AI

Table of Contents

Preface Josh Tyson xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction Robb Wilson xvii

Part I Imagining an Ecosystem of Intelligent Digital Workers 1

1 Hyperautomation Is Already Here 3

Get ready for the implications directly engaging with technology through conversation will bring

2 What Conversational Artificial Intelligence Is-and Isn't 15

Automation solutions are part of an ecosystem of technologies working in concert

3 Competing in the Age of Hyperautomation 25

Hyperautomating means accomplishing more with less while automating new and more sophisticated processes

You have to move fast, you have to take risks, and you have to be ready to fail

4 The Ethics of Experiential Al 33

"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us"

5 How Hyperautomation Can Change the World 41

Where there are disruptive innovations being sequenced, there are, hyperdisruptions

6 This Journey Has Been Personal 67

The content in this book derives from 2,000,000+ hours of testing with over 30,000,000 people participating across 10,000 conversational applications

Part II Planning an Ecosystem of Intelligent Digital Workers 71

7 Learning the Terms 75

The journey to an intelligent ecosystem of digital workers will likely be arduous and complex, but it's also a journey of self-discovery

8 The Dream vs. Reality 83

The ice-bath reality is that creating an intelligent digital ecosystem requires more than just a few machines thrown at a few different problem areas

9 Ecosystem Evolution Explained 87

There are four evolutionary phases that an intelligent digital worker can move through as it becomes better at completing tasks

10 Teams and the Co-Creation Mindset 97

The core enablement team will guide your whole organization as the creators and keepers of your strategy

11 Preparing Tools and Architecture 109

This is a big undertaking, and you need to make sure you're equipped with the right tools

12 Vetting Your Vendors 135

Asking vendors the right questions early on can avoid time wasted exploring inadequate tools and platforms for hyperautomation

13 Articulating Your Strategy to Others 143

The challenge is getting the decision makers to accept the fact that this requires involvement from-and potentially the restructuring of-every department inside your organization

Part III Building an Ecosystem of Intelligent Digital Workers 153

14 The Process of Hyperautomating 155

A proper strategy for achieving and maintaining hyperautomation includes everyone in your workforce, leveraging individual areas of expertise

15 Design Strategy for Hyperautomation 173

Users aren't comparing their experience with your solution to experiences with other similar technologies-they're comparing them to conversations with other humans

16 Production Design for Hyperautomation 191

Production design finds conversational designers creating the experiences people will have conversing with machines

17 Best Practices in Conversational Design 201

Through building thousands of conversational Al applications over the past decade, I've identified nearly 60 best practices for conversational design

Part IV Conclusion 227

18 Where Do We Go from Here? 229

Notes 235

About the Authors 241

Index 243