Altilia is recognized as Major Player in 2023-2024 IDC MarketScape Worldwide Intelligent Document Processing Vendor Assessment

The lexicon of Artificial Intelligence – and how it can transform your organization

By altilia on April 28, 2023

The emergence of ChatGPT in recent months has prompted an unprecedented explosion of public hype and interest in Artificial Intelligence and its potential future uses.

Following industry luminaries such as Bill Gates describing AI as the most important technological advance in decades, there has been a torrent of predictions on how it will change the world of work.

Here at Altilia we have been building an AI-based platform, Altilia Intelligent Automation, that is at the forefront of a new revolution based around Intelligent Document Processing (IDP).

It is clear, however, that industry leaders anxious to understand this new phenomenon, are overwhelmed by the language, acronyms and blizzard of nascent technologies which leave them baffled and unsure on how to get started.

Our aim over a series of blogs is to unpack the lexicon of AI and explain what it all means, a useful, insightful and simplified guide for organizations interested in how AI will affect them.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

The term artificial intelligence (AI) is used loosely to refer to applications that perform complex tasks that previously required human intervention, such as communicating with customers online or playing chess.

The term is often used interchangeably with the terms machine learning (ML) and deep learning, although they (as we will discover) have different meanings.

Many companies are investing significantly in data science teams to take full advantage of AI, combining statistics, computer science and business knowledge to extract value from various data sources and enable problem-solving. Algorithms seek to create expert systems which make predictions or classifications based on input data.

Advanced functions can include the ability to see, understand and translate spoken and written language, analyze data, make recommendations and classify both structured and unstructured data.

Computers and machines are developed with the ability to reason, learn and act in a way that would normally require human intelligence, often at a scale that exceeds or speeds up what humans can deal with.

Benefits of AI:

  • Automation. AI can automate workflows and processes or work independently and autonomously from a human team.
  • Reduce human error. AI can eliminate manual errors in data processing, analytics, assembly in manufacturing, and other tasks through automation and algorithms that follow the same processes every single time.
  • Eliminate repetitive tasks. AI can be used to perform repetitive tasks, freeing human capital to work on higher impact problems.
  • Fast and accurate. AI can process more information more quickly than a human, finding patterns and discovering relationships in data that a human may miss.
  • Accelerated research and development. The ability to analyze vast amounts of data quickly can lead to accelerated breakthroughs in research and development.

Altilia are world experts in Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), so let’s have a look at how it builds on AI capabilities and developments to enhance organizational efficiency and accuracy.

What is Intelligent Document Processing?

At its most simplistic level, Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) converts unstructured and semi-structured data into structured usable information, thus enabling layers of automation to document-centric business processes.

As an example, many mortgage forms may be filled in with (unstructured) hand-written answers by an applicant, which would need human intervention to input that information into a financial services company’s systems.

IDP uses AI (and other technologies) to extract that information in a usable form, thus reducing time and manual labor.

Which AI fields are relevant for IDP?

A human reading and understanding a document needs to:

  • Have visual perception to recognize images, symbols and writing
  • Have a comprehensive understanding of the document’s language
  • Be able to understand new information and learn concepts
  • Be able to memorize concepts and the relations between them.

AI, therefore, needs to emulate these abilities to be capable of reading like a human – and for IDP, these are the most relevant application fields:

  • Computer Vision is the AI field that emulates human visual perception
  • Natural Language Processing (NLP) focuses on developing algorithms for general understanding of a language
  • Machine Learning (ML) is focused on training a machine to learn and conceptualise information as models
  • Knowledge Representation is focused on representing information in a way that is functional, not just to memorize the content, but relations between them.

We will continue this series explaining the lexicon of AI in the coming weeks. For more information on how Altilia can support your business, schedule a demo here .

By altilia on April 28, 2023

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Why your business needs more than a general purpose AI

Why your business needs more than a general purpose AI

Overcoming the biggest challenges in intelligent document processing We've all been there: urgently uploading a complex document to ChatGPT or another general purpose AI solution, hoping for that magical moment of instant understanding. You paste in a financial report, a lengthy contract, or a multi-page compliance document, and wait with anticipation. The response comes back - and can I trust this answer? Sure, these tools might summarize a few points or extract basic details, but can they guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the analysis? And when you're handling high-stakes documents like contracts or compliance reports, where even a single overlooked clause or misinterpreted detail could lead to serious consequences, "good enough" simply doesn’t cut it. Most GenAI tools today are like eager but inexperienced junior assistants. They'll give you a quick overview, highlight a few things, but miss the connections that an experienced professional would catch. They'll read a loan application, but might overlook that crucial footnote that changes everything. They'll scan a compliance document, but could miss the intricate relationships between different sections that truly tell the full story. For businesses handling critical documents day in and day out, relying on "probably correct" results is a risk you can't afford. What you need is a solution that doesn't just glance at the words but truly understands the context, the relationships, and the implications within your documents. A solution like Altilia, designed to not only extract data but to deliver comprehensive insights with the precision and reliability you can trust. The daily struggle with documents General purpose GenAI apps face three key challenges when processing documents that either effect the accuracy in the scanning of the document, the efficiency in the elaboration of the info or doesn’t adapt effectively to the complexity of the multitude layout of different documents: The context problem Imagine evaluating a customer's creditworthiness by examining individual transactions in isolation, without piecing together their full financial story. Traditional GenAI tools often work this way, fragmenting documents into smaller sections and processing them independently. This approach overlooks the critical connections between sections, like how repayment terms align with income statements or how hidden clauses in one part of a document might contradict terms in another. For financial documents where every detail matters, this lack of contextual understanding can result in costly errors—such as misjudging a customer’s true ability to repay a loan or missing compliance risks buried in the fine print. Accurate decision-making demands a solution that understands the full picture, not just isolated fragments. The structure challenge Most GenAI apps read documents sequentially, like a straight line of text, missing the crucial hierarchy and organization that gives financial documents their meaning. Imagine reading a financial statement without distinguishing between headers, footnotes, and main entries - that's essentially what happens when GenAI ignores document structure. The connection gap In financial documents, information often relies on definitions or conditions stated elsewhere in the document. General purpose GenAI struggles to make these connections, potentially missing critical dependencies in complex financial agreements or regulatory documents. How Altilia transforms document processing The Altilia platform collects, processes, and centralizes all kinds of data, both structured and unstructured. It automates complex business processes and provides advanced knowledge management tools. It uses integrated AI technologies to add value through automation, synthesis, and content generation. Here's how it works: Step 1: Document intake The platform accepts any document your financial institution handles. This includes scanned loan applications, pptx, xls, and digital compliance reports. It's like having a universal document translator at your disposal. Step 2: Smart processing pipeline This is where the magic happens. The platform processes documents through four key stages: First, it reads all text, even from scanned documents which is the most challenging format for the general purpose AI tools due to the quality of the scan. Then, it maps the document's structure. It understands how its parts relate (header, paragraph, notes, etc.). It's like creating a detailed outline of a complex financial report. Next, it builds a complete understanding of the document's structure. It's like creating a map of where the information is. Finally, it analyzes any charts, graphs, or images, ensuring no information is missed Step 3: Knowledge creation All this information goes into the business’ knowledge base. Here, documents are organized, linked, and made available. Every employee can access the needed information. However, not everyone should see everything. So, we can create different access levels for each employee. Step 4: Practical application This is where businesses can get advantage of Altilia’s platform to make the next step into the automation of their workflow. Automated processing: The system can automatically handle routine document tasks, like processing loan applications or checking compliance. It will report the client's credit score and a summary of the key points in their financial records. Smart assistance: AI-powered tools help staff quickly find and use information across the business's entire knowledge base. By simply typing a question, such as "Who is the financial advisor of company XYZ?", the search function can rapidly locate the information. Custom automation: Create specialized workflows for your specific needs, no technical expertise required. Real benefits for financial institutions This approach transforms daily operations in several ways. Here some examples: Faster processing: What used to take hours of manual document review can now be completed in minutes Better accuracy: With a comprehensive understanding of every document, your team catches critical details that might have been overlooked before Enhanced compliance: The system helps ensure regulatory requirements are met consistently Improved decision-making: With better access to information, your team can make more informed decisions quickly Making it work in your business The best part about Altilia's solution is how easily it fits into your existing operations: No technical expertise needed: The platform is designed to be used by financial professionals, not tech experts Seamless integration: It works alongside your existing systems without disrupting current processes Scalable solution: Whether you're processing hundreds or thousands of documents, the platform grows with your needs Beyond traditional document processing While most GenAI platforms struggle with document complexity, Altilia offers a fresh approach to information processing. Traditional platforms treat documents as separate fragments, reading text mechanically and missing critical connections. They also require extensive technical expertise to customize. Altilia completely transforms this approach. It creates a comprehensive, intelligent map of each document instead of fragmenting information. This is like having a super-smart analyst who not only reads text but also truly understands its intricate relationships, structure, and context. Unlike general purpose solutions, which see isolated data, Altilia sees a living network of knowledge. It preserves document hierarchies, enables real-time cross-referencing, and turns unstructured information into actionable insights. Unlike traditional solutions that demand complex technical skills, Altilia provides a no-code, user-friendly environment that any business professional can navigate. In essence, Altilia is not just processing documents - it's reimagining how businesses understand and leverage their information. It's not about faster data extraction, but about generating deeper, more intelligent insights.

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Why One Size Doesn't Fit All in Business Automation

Why One Size Doesn't Fit All in Business Automation

Imagine you need to renovate an apartment. You've got your trusty hammer in the toolbox, and it's served you well for hanging pictures and minor repairs. But now you need to fix a leaky pipe, repaint the living room, and rewire an electrical outlet. Suddenly, that reliable hammer seems completely inadequate. You quickly realize that to tackle these diverse tasks, you need a variety of specialized tools – a wrench for the pipe, brushes for painting, and a voltage tester for the wiring job. Don’t worry, Altilia is not rebranding itself as a DIY startup, but this scenario perfectly illustrates the current state of AI in business. Many companies, eager to exploit the power of AI, are reaching for a single, all-purpose AI solution, much like grabbing that trusty hammer for every home repair. They're turning to impressive, general-purpose AI models like GPT4 or Claude, expecting these tools to solve all their business challenges. While these models are undoubtedly powerful and versatile, they're not optimized for every specific business need. The limits of a universal AI agent of the Universal AI Agent GPT4 and Claude, developed by OpenAI and Anthropic respectively, are remarkable achievements in natural language processing. They can generate human-like text, answer questions, and even assist with simple coding tasks. Many businesses have integrated these models into their operations, using them for customer service chatbots, or general data analysis. However, these general AI models have limitations when it comes to understanding specialized business-domain information. For instance, a financial institution using GPT4 for customer inquiries might find it struggles with industry-specific terminology or regulations or to retrieve correctly the info from documents. The reality is that while these general AI models are impressive, they're not designed to handle the diverse and specific challenges that different businesses face. Each industry, each company, has its own unique processes, data types, and objectives. A one-size-fits-all AI agent often falls short in understanding these nuances. The Advantage of Specialized AI Agents This is where specialized AI agents come into play. By focusing on specific tasks, these agents can befine-tuned to understand the unique nuances and technicalities of your own organization and/or industry, work with your unique data formats, and align with each of your particular business processes’.  The result? Greater accuracy, improved efficiency, and better integration with your existing workflows. By focusing on creating multiple, specialized AI agents rather than relying on a single, generic solution, businesses can: Address specific challenges more effectively, improving problem-solving capabilities Improve accuracy in task completion, reducing errors and enhancing quality Enhance efficiency in specialized processes, saving time and resources Better integrate AI with existing workflows, minimizing disruption and maximizing adoption Maintain their unique competitive edge by leveraging AI in ways specific to your own business model This specialization allows businesses to use AI not just as a general tool, but as a set of expert assistants, each trained in a specific area of the business. It's the difference between having a general handyman and a team of specialized craftsmen – each brings expert knowledge to their specific domain.   None knows your business better than you do While AI technology itself can be replicated, the real competitive advantage lies in how that technology is applied to your specific business context. Altilia helps you build a lasting competitive advantage by creating custom AI agents that integrate perfectly with your unique business processes. Think of it as your personal AI factory, producing solutions specifically tailored to your company's operations and needs How Altilia improves business’s workflow Altilia's platform offers two main features that optimize work and data management by leveraging information from diverse sources scattered throughout the entire business knowledge ecosystem: AI Assistants for Employees: These intelligent co-pilots are optimized for your company's specific needs, drawing insights from a vast array of sources. Unlike general AI models, these assistants are trained on your company's data repository, including documents, databases, and digital assets spread across various departments and systems (e.g. mails, CRM databases, Google Drive, …). They assist your staff in their daily tasks by providing a unified view of the information they are looking for, enhancing productivity and decision-making. For example, in a customer service context, these assistants could instantly access and synthesize information from product manuals, internal wikis, customer interaction logs, and even email threads to provide representatives with holistic, context-aware solutions tailored to your specific offerings and policies. AI Robots for Process Automation: AI Robots automate processes that would otherwise be done manually by processing data from multiple sources across your organization. For instance, in a legal firm, an AI robot could be set up to automatically analyze incoming legal documents via mail while cross-referencing them with historical case files, legal databases, and regulatory updates scattered across various systems. It can then categorize cases, extract key information, identify precedents from past cases stored in different repositories, and even generate draft responses by combining relevant information from multiple sources. This level of intelligent automation goes far beyond what a general AI model could offer, as it's specifically designed to understand, integrate, and work with diverse legal documents and processes spread throughout the organization's knowledge base. Why choose Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base? Simplifying Custom AI Creation: we all know that good data is the key for a quality output. That’s why Altilia's platform makes your company data "AI-ready" through a sophisticated process. This includes OCR (Optical Character Recognition) analysis for document scanning and layout processing. By preparing your data in this way, Altilia ensures that it's in a format that's easily interpretable by AI agents. This is crucial for businesses dealing with large volumes of unstructured data, such as scanned documents or handwritten notes. Integrated Development Environment: The platform offers a simplified environment to develop AI applications that fit your specific knowledge needs and data types. This environment is designed to be user-friendly, allowing even those without extensive IT expertise to participate in the development process. You have the flexibility to create these AI agents yourself or have Altilia's experts create them for you, ensuring that the resulting agents are perfectly aligned with your business objectives. Adaptability: Unlike off-the-shelf solutions, Altilia's platform works with your specific data types, understands and fits your unique processes, and can be continuously refined to meet evolving business needs. This adaptability ensures that your AI solutions grow and evolve with your business, rather than constraining your processes to fit a generic AI model.   Conclusion As we return to our home improvement analogy, it's clear that just as a well-equipped toolbox is essential for tackling diverse home repairs, a suite of specialized AI agents is crucial for addressing varied business challenges. The one-size-fits-all approach, while tempting in its simplicity, often falls short in delivering the specific solutions that businesses really need. In the race to adopt AI, it's crucial to remember that true power comes from specialization and customization. While general AI models like GPT4 and Claude have their place, they shouldn't be seen as the end-all solution for business AI needs. Instead, they should be viewed as starting points – impressive technologies that demonstrate the potential of AI, but which need to be refined and specialized to truly transform business operations. Altilia's platform empowers businesses to move beyond generic solutions and create AI agents that truly understand and enhance their processes. As you consider integrating AI into your business, think beyond the one-tool approach. Consider how specialized AI agents could improve specific areas of your operations, much like how a particular tool can be used in renovating an apartment. Altilia makes it easy to create AI tailored to your needs. It's time to move beyond the myth of the universal AI agent and embrace the potential of specialized AI solutions.

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How to leverage unstructured data with AI

Introduction In today's digital landscape, businesses are drowning in data, but starving for insights. Gartner reports that 90% of new enterprise data is unstructured, growing three times faster than structured data. Yet, a 2019 Deloitte survey found only 18% of organizations effectively leverage these information. For the financial sector, transforming unstructured data laying in legal contracts into actionable insights is a complex and costly work that requires highly specialized analysts to organize data into user-friendly graphs. But is this the only available solution?  Altilia's smart Knowledge Base solution offers a powerful answer. Our platform tackles the unstructured data challenge, turning the information into a competitive advantage. Whether you're an accountant juggling diverse client information or a financial analyst reading countless contracts, Altilia's smart knowledge base could be the key to unlocking your data's true potential. Join us as we explore how Altilia's solution can help you harness the power of unstructured data, streamline processes, and drive informed decision-making in an increasingly data-driven world.   Introducing Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base is our answer to the unstructured data problem. It's a powerful tool that turns messy, scattered information into useful, organized knowledge. But, what is a smart knowledge base? Think of it as an intelligent digital library. Unlike a regular database that just stores information, a smart knowledge base can understand, organize, and even use the information it contains. Therefore, the library not only stores everything you upload, but also makes connections between different pieces of information, answers your questions, and even helps you make decisions. That's what makes it "smart" – it doesn't just hold knowledge, it actively helps you use it. How is Altilia's solution different from other solutions?  Gathers All Your Data: Our system collects information from many different places. It doesn't matter if it's scanned papers, emails, or database entries - our platform brings it all together in one place. Understands Your Information: Our AI doesn't just read your data, it understands it. It can make sense of complex documents, pull out important details, and even grasp context and subtle meanings. Easy to Use: You don't need to be an AI expert to use our platform. We've made it simple. There's a search bar to find information quickly, and you can ask questions in your native language. Works Automatically: Once the setup of a workflow is completed, our system can do complex tasks on its own. It can take the new documents that have been uploaded, extract information from them, and even create detailed reports without the need to personally go through each step.  Trustworthy: We know the quality of the result is important, especially when writing a report or a legal document. That's why our system can show you how it reached its conclusions. This is crucial for businesses that need to follow strict rules. By combining these features, Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base changes how you use your data. It's not just about storing information - it's about making that information work for you. It helps you gain insights, work more efficiently, and make better decisions across your entire organization.   The Financial Analyst's Challenge Meet Sarah, a seasoned financial analyst working for a large investment firm. Sarah's job involves analyzing complex reports from rating agencies to guide investment decisions. Let's see how Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base transforms her workflow and solves her data analysis dilemma. Sarah's Typical Day Before Altilia: Information Overload: Sarah receives a comprehensive report from a major rating agency: A 200-page PDF document with text, tables, and graphs Supplementary data in spreadsheets Some reports are inside data silos, making difficult to retrieve the correct information Related news articles and press releases Time-Consuming Analysis: Sarah spends days: Manually reading through the lengthy report Copying data from PDFs into spreadsheets for analysis Cross-referencing information with past reports and news Risk of Oversight: With so much information to process: Important details might be missed It's challenging to spot trends across multiple reports Connecting related information from different sources is difficult Delayed Insights: Because the analysis takes so long, Sarah often struggles to provide timely investment recommendations to her team. Sarah's Transformed Workflow with Altilia: Centralized Information: All the information, regardless of its original format, is now in one place: The PDF report is automatically processed and its content extracted Spreadsheet data is integrated into the system Relevant news and press releases are collected and linked Automated Information Extraction: Altilia's AI does the heavy lifting: Automatically reads and understands the entire report Extracts key data points, trends, and risk assessments Organizes all information into a structured, easily searchable format Intelligent Search: Sarah can now find any piece of information in seconds: Uses natural language queries like "Show me all companies with a credit rating downgrade in the last quarter" The system understands context, finding related information even if it's not explicitly mentioned Automated Analysis: The platform generates insights automatically: Compares current ratings with historical data Identifies trends and anomalies in the agency's assessments Creates visualizations of key financial indicators Enhanced Accuracy: With AI-powered analysis, the risk of oversight is significantly reduced: The system cross-references information from different sections and sources Any unusual data points or discrepancies are flagged for human review Sarah can always double check the results proposed by the AI Agent and the resources used. Faster Insights: Sarah now spends less time on data processing and more on high-level analysis: Quickly identifies key trends and potential investment opportunities Provides more timely and comprehensive recommendations to her team The Result: With Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base, Sarah transforms from a data processor into a strategic advisor. She can analyze reports more thoroughly, provide faster insights, and add more value to her firm's investment decisions. The investment firm benefits from more timely, accurate, and insightful financial analysis, helping them make better investment choices in a fast-paced market.   What's Next for Unstructured Data? The world of data is changing fast, and unstructured data is leading the charge. So, what's coming next? Here's our insights into the future: Smarter AI: Imagine AI that can understand data like a human, but faster and without getting tired. That's where we're heading and we are working on an AI that can make sense of even the trickiest information. Speed is Key: In the future, waiting for answers will be old news. We're moving towards systems that can give you insights right away, as soon as new data comes in. Keeping Data Safe: As we use more data, keeping it safe becomes super important. Future systems will need to be like a fortress for your information, while still making it easy for you to use. Data for Everyone: You shouldn't need a PhD to understand your data. We're working towards a world where anyone can ask questions and get answers from their data, as easily as using a search engine. Contrary to what it might look like, the future of data is exciting, and a bit wild. There will be more data than ever, coming from places we can't even imagine yet. But with the right tools, like Altilia's Smart Knowledge Base, you won't just keep up – you'll be ahead of the game. Ready to step into the future of data management? Let's turn your data challenges into your biggest strengths, today and tomorrow. Book a call with our experts to explore how Altilia’s smart knowledge base might fit your business.

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