Next time you'll schedule a meeting with someone, you may be interacting with Amy, the robot! A company called x.ai is developing an artificial intelligence application (that is, a robot), that will take care of your meetings. This Computer World article has the details. The company is even looking for beta testers.
So let's see, administrative assistants are no longer required to be proficient typists (boss does his own typing), know shorthand (boss doesn't dictate letters anymore), answer the phone (boss answers his own cell phone), and now schedule meetings will be gone as well. (Of course, making good coffee has been out of the duties for ages because in this day and age it is considered politically incorrect, rude, and condescending.) What else is left? Pretty soon, there will be no need for them, unless it will be the poor admin who will be stuck calling Amy!
I know that I'm generalizing -- positions for administrative assistants will still exist --, but it is a sad thing to see the devolution of a once highly skilled profession unraveling so quickly.Labels: anythinggoes
