According to Wikipedia , “Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back.” One of the most common MSDs is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It causes much pain, numbness and tingling throughout the hand and arm. OrthoInfo says: “The condition occurs when one of the major nerves to the hand - the median nerve - is squeezed or compressed as it travels through the wrist. In most patients, carpal tunnel syndrome gets worse over time, so early diagnosis and treatment are important. Early on, symptoms can often be relieved with simple measures like wearing a wrist splint or avoiding certain activities.” What activities are to be avoided? Repetitive hand movements are to blame. Especially repetitive hand motions, where the hand and wrist are in an awkward prolonged position, the median nerve is aggravated leading to Carpal Tunnel. So, if you avoid these repetitive tasks, you could avoid permanent damage.

But what if these repetitive tasks are a substantial part of your job, your means of living? For example, you spend over half of your day entering data on a keyboard. Well, at first, you would be encouraged to stretch and exercise. You may be given an ergonomic keyboard, mouse pad or a splint to keep your wrist straight. You may be given an anti-inflammatory or perhaps cortisone injections to ease the pain. Eventually, however, if you keep doing the motions that caused Carpal Tunnel, you will most likely cause permanent damage that will require surgery. Aftermath.com reports: “Each year, MSDs account for more than $15 billion in workers’ compensation costs.” Is there a solution?

Maybe not a complete solution. But, we do now have the technology to assist humans with these types of repetitive tasks. Great advances in mathematics, science, engineering and even technology are being made with the help of, you guessed it, technology. All over the world, countries are automating their repetitive processes and progressing rapidly. Will this country embrace this movement like the many they do embrace? I think it will. This technology just has to be demystified. I could be wrong though. Look at the calculator. Children these days are born with tablets in their hands. I recently watched a friend’s three year old granddaughter pick up her phone, unlock it, navigate to the camera and start taking close-ups of the dog without even blinking. Technology has become second-nature to our children. Then, we put them in school, give them pencils and expect them to memorize multiplication tables on paper. Huh? Why? Yes, my uncle is faster at math in his head than me. He can also use an abacus. But, I can literally Google anything. I dreamed of having a supercomputer like Superman’s when I was a kid. A computer that I could ask anything and it would respond with the answer. We have that in our pockets now. Our phones are millions of times more powerful than all the behemoth computers used to assist NASA in their ‘69 lunar missions, combined. That’s amazing! What a powerful tool! And children that are taught how to utilize these technological tools are doing pretty amazing things (Check out Coding With Kids or Tynker ).

So, what amazing things could an adult do when given a powerful, assistant technology like Robotic Process Automation? Who knows? But, they would sure have a lot more time during the day to find out. They’d also be around a lot longer. If an employee, who normally spends a sizable chunk of their time on repetitive data-entry type tasks, could simply click a button to handle the boring stuff, how much would companies or states save on MSD injury claims? Millions? Billions? These questions are probably being answered as we speak, but we just don’t have the data yet. We do know, from the companies that have utilized RPA, that employees are enjoying their work more. Over 85% of people believe that RPA has made them more efficient and nearly 70% believe their human interactions have increased. Will the positive results of Robotic Process Automation ring true when it comes to decreasing office-place musculoskeletal disorders? I think they will. And I think that the companies that harness this technology will thrive and remain competitive. Those that don’t will continue to spend money where the other companies are saving and slowly fade into irrelevancy.