There was a time when workers may have feared that automation would threaten their job, but several industries have demonstrated how new technology allows individuals to optimise their workload and focus on more specialist tasks. One example is the trading industry, which has seamlessly integrated trading robots to assist investors in processing lots of data in a short space of time. The success of robots in the trading industry has already been matched by the introduction of automation in other fields, with more sure to come in the next few years.
A key feature of automation is that the tech's effectiveness is wholly reliant on human input, initially from the individual or team who produce the innovation. Once the automation tool is launched, it is up to the user to ensure that the right parameters are put in place and that the robot is given enough information to reach incisive conclusions. While automation can save a human a great deal of time in terms of data transfer and analysis, the need for skilled human workers will never disappear.
How automation in trading works
The trading industry provides the best example of how robots can supplement human knowledge. Trading robots can significantly streamline the processes of data processing and trend identification, but a skilled trader's spontaneous thoughts and contextual knowledge remain integral to developing the perfect strategy.
There is a wide range of forex trade robots available for traders, with services that vary from bot to bot. The very best forex robots will be able to initiate and exit trades based on preset parameters, identify subtle market trends using analytics, and adapt a trader's portfolio based on changes to the riskiness of their position. In the case of the latter two features, a trading robot performs functions that may be beyond the average trader.
That is not a comment on the ability of the average trader, but rather it is an acceptance that most investors won't have the time to manually process and evaluate market data with the ease of a trading robot. Also, trading robots can put numerical values on market shifts and risk levels, thereby making it easier for the human to reassess their position. However, the trading robot's work is futile if a human doesn't set up the bot with the right parameters, including the type of markets to explore and the ideal levels to buy or sell.
Crucially, a trader cannot simply leave the bot to its own devices for a prolonged period. Market conditions constantly change, largely driven by two factors that a bot cannot analyse: real-world events and market sentiment. Therefore, a trading bot will need monitoring and its parameters may need tinkering on a regular basis. However, a bot is invaluable in terms of saving a human trader lots of work in collecting and interpreting market data. The world of trading is the perfect example of how automation and industries can work together harmoniously.
Automation in other industries
There are other industries that, like trading, have found ways to incorporate the use of bots to reduce the busywork required by humans, giving them more time to channel their expertise into specialist tasks.
Banking
Given their shared reliance on statistics and trends, it is no surprise to see the banking industry emulate trading through its use of automation in several key tasks. Banks can use robots to immediately process applications for new accounts or loans, using pre-determined criteria to establish the applicant's eligibility. Appeals to rejected applications may reveal deficiencies in the bot, while banks constantly monitor the parameters of the bot to ensure that an appropriate number of applicants are successful.
Translation
Automation has clear practical value when incorporated into translation. Translation tools such as Google Translate are now many people's first stop for language assistance, with these tools naturally much quicker and easier than requiring a human to translate every word. While translation bots can handle short phrases and sentences, errors are more likely to occur in longer pieces of text. This is where human involvement is key, to pick up on issues with syntax and with the translation of colloquialisms. The editing process, therefore, identifies improvements that can be made to the bot for future translations.
There are very few industries that cannot benefit from automation in some way, given that bots can process large quantities of data quicker and more comprehensively than a human. However, while the technology driving automation is inherently intelligent, bots need knowledgeable humans to establish their guidelines and monitor their activity. This has been made clear by the successful relationship between bots and humans in the trading industry.
