AI, Information Management, and the Future of Collaboration

Joel and Ethan Coen. Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Doritos and Taco Bell. Collaborations lead to groundbreaking, creative work. But the next game-changing collaboration will be between knowledge workers and robots—specifically, AI chatbots.

The future of collaboration is closely bound to the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and information management. According to a report by MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group, companies that emphasize collaboration between AI and human workers are more successful. AI can be used to improve team collaboration by streamlining processes, revealing fresh insights, and boosting productivity. For example, AI technologies can integrate with business communication applications such as team collaboration tools and unified communications to improve worker productivity, save time, and improve the overall business flow.

One thing's clear: The future of effective collaboration will be intertwined with AI and information management systems. By leveraging AI, companies can improve team collaboration, streamline processes, and boost productivity.

Working with AI

Experts across professions are fascinated with the knowledge work automation capabilities of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. Powered by large language models (LLMs) on the back end, these tools can function as powerful collaboration partners.

Knowledge workers can ask AI chatbots to quickly locate information stored in their company knowledge base or in public datasets by using a simple, prompt-based user interface. They can also use AI chatbots as true creative collaboration partners that offer suggestions and feedback about ideas.

Collaboration between knowledge workers and AI isn't the only way advanced technologies are influencing the future of knowledge work. AI-powered information automation and business process automation will reshape knowledge management roles as we know them.

Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence

When the World Wide Web emerged in the 1990s, many people expected it to transform collaboration. Although Internet innovations have contributed to collaboration gains over the years, knowledge workers still lack an end-to-end toolset to reduce manual tasks. AI can be used to enhance search capabilities within knowledge management systems, enabling users to find relevant information quicker by leveraging context, synonyms, and user preferences.

These enhancements not only improve productivity, but also encourage knowledge sharing. In addition, generative AI (GenAI) is revolutionizing knowledge management by creating new content such as text, images, and videos based on information learned from a training dataset. AI technology also addresses modern KM challenges by making content easily discoverable and shareable. Integrating AI and machine learning into a knowledge management system builds intelligent searches, resulting in heightened productivity and improving how content is used.

AI and KM present the perfect storm of collaboration—AI can be used to enhance search capabilities within knowledge management systems while GenAI revolutionizes knowledge management, creating new content based on information learned from a training dataset.

While digital transformation moved some processes into the cloud, knowledge workers still spend too much time inputting, maintaining, modifying, and searching for information. They also operate in data siloes—knowledge users spend an estimated 12 hours per week searching for key information.

A knowledge management system, paired with AI solutions, demolishes siloes and automates manual, error-prone processes that waste knowledge workers’ time. Industry-leading information management systems eliminate information chaos by automatically organizing data regardless of where it lives.

The Impact of Document Management and Information Management

Knowledge work must access the right information at the right time. Information is generally stored as documents, and most organizations store critical documents in a variety of systems, including:

• Repositories
• Applications
• Shared files
• ECM systems
• CRM platforms

An intelligent document management system brings order to chaos. Using machine learning, the system creates smart connections between knowledge content anywhere in an organization, tagging documents with metadata. Such a system allows workers to find information simply by searching for what they’re looking for rather than having to know where it’s stored.

Knowledge Work Collaboration Challenges and Solutions

The future of work for knowledge workers is a lush landscape of enhanced collaboration and reduced busy work. Here are some ways that AI automation software will create more integrated information environments.

Creating documents

Reinventing the wheel every time a worker wants to create a new document is the opposite of document management best practices. Document automation software allows workers to easily create and use templated documents or suites of documents. These no-code tools can help even non-technical users generate advanced templates in minutes.

Finding documents

Without a robust document management system, content chaos is inevitable. AI for knowledge management organizes documents and helps knowledge workers easily find and use information in the proper business context.

Document workflows

Handing off files among stakeholders is common practice for most businesses. Managing the process manually is a waste of time for knowledge workers and can lead to bottlenecks. AI-powered, robotic process automation tools can capture, store, and recreate users’ workflows. Knowledge workers can focus on what matters and work smarter.

FAQ

What are the benefits of information management systems?

Information management systems save employees' time from busywork and reduce errors associated with manual processes by automating business data collection, sharing, maintenance, storage, and retrieval. This allows knowledge workers to spend more time applying creative and problem-solving know-how.

What is knowledge workflow management?

Knowledge workflow management software captures and automates common workflows related to knowledge work and functions best when enhanced with AI.

Many workflows involve sharing, editing, and approving documents. When a user creates a document, AI scans the document content to trigger workflows and set permissions. The software then automatically shares the document with the appropriate people.

The software automates tasks in an end-to-end process. Whenever someone completes their task, the software alerts other stakeholders and reminds them to complete their tasks. This saves time for everyone involved.

How do you automate a document?

Document automation software is the fastest and easiest way to automate the creation and management of document templates. AI tools take it one step further and learn about the organization and its workflows as users engage with the software. Document automation tools provide proactive information and offer suggestions for document sorting. They also improve document auto-classification and enhance document search functions.