Introduction
Process documentation tracks and shares processes and procedures. Artificial Intelligence (AI) process documentation streamlines and enhances these processes using AI technologies and tools.
AI is making onboarding new hires, updating teams with new processes, and assisting with management easier than ever.
In this blog, we'll explain what AI is, how companies are using AI to improve their processes, and how to document processes with AI.
TL;DR: How to document processes with AI
- AI automates repetitive tasks and improves accuracy and efficiency in process documentation.
- AI is already being used in various fields like accounting, HR, government, insurance, law firms, marketing, IT, developers, engineers, and medicine.
- Benefits of using AI for process documentation include workflow automation, improving accuracy and efficiency, and Automated document generation and template creation.
- Best practices for using AI tools include optimizing prompts, testing, using sequential prompts, giving examples, auditing, and adding multimedia.
- Scribe is a generative AI tool you can use to automate workflow documentation, including tool descriptions, user manuals and FAQs.
OK, so what exactly is AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capacity of machines to mimic human intelligence in areas like:
- Perception.
- Reasoning.
- Learning.
- Interacting with the world.
- Solving problems.
- Creative problem-solving.
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Let's see how teams are using AI
AI is already used in many different fields. According to an Artificial Intelligence Market Size report from Grand View Research, AI is projected to grow 37.3% annually from 2023 to 2030.
Here are a few processes that industries are automating with AI.
Accounting
AI in accounting is used to automate invoice processing and other accounts payable tasks.
HR
Processing applicants, conducting interviews and analyzing survey results.
Government
Permit management, electronic document issuance and application processing.
Insurance
Handling claims, identifying fraud and prioritizing insurance policies.
Law firms
Processing, preserving and managing legal data quickly and accurately.
Marketing
Analyzing massive volumes of customer data, implementing targeted marketing strategies and turning a lead into a sale at optimal moments.
IT and developers
AI tools for developers help with creating documentation that meets industry standards and regulations. AI-powered algorithms also help find search results quickly.
Engineers
Analyzing data gathered through simulations, sensor networks, and other methods. They also use AI to forecast how buildings react to varying loads and environmental conditions.
Medical
Diagnosis and treatment of patients. AI can give physicians data-driven support for the treatment and management of illnesses.
Why should I use AI to document processes?
Documenting processes with AI increases can help you increase your efficiency, reduce mistakes and improve productivity.
Here are a few benefits of using AI for process documentation.
1. Workflow automation
AI automates repetitive and time-consuming activities like creating, updating and managing process documentation.
AI can gather information from several sources, like documents, emails, or databases. Instead of typing data into documentation templates by hand, AI algorithms can analyze and extract relevant data points, populating the documentation automatically.
AI workflows can save time, minimize errors and ensure consistency across the documentation.
2. Improve accuracy and efficiency
AI algorithms can analyze large data sets to gather useful information. These algorithms can recognize names, addresses, dates, and connections between them. AI systems can categorize documents by subject, mark parts of speech, and even summarize main ideas.
Automating these tasks saves time and manual effort, reducing mistakes and inconsistencies that can happen with manual work.
3. Automated document generation and template creation
AI systems can analyze existing documents and templates to find similarities, structures and patterns. They can then make new documents and templates using what they have learned.
AI can also tap into knowledge bases that specify certain document types' required and optional components.
AI can use this organized information to ask users to give the required inputs to create a new document or template.
Some AI systems also have natural language generation abilities that can make complete sentences and paragraphs to fill documents and templates based on user or system inputs.
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How to start documenting processes with AI
Here are a few best practices for making documentation easier using AI tools.
1. Optimize your AI prompts
AI requires "prompts" or questions. Targeted prompts can be created with specific goals:
- Be specific: To assist the AI in grasping the context and responding appropriately, be clear and concise with your prompt.
- Be as detailed as possible: Use detailed prompts that clarify context, structure and style. For example, a writing prompt could be: "In Coleridge's style, write a 500-word essay on Romanticism's effect on 18th-century literature."
- Limit response length: If you require a short answer, use "in one paragraph" or "in 100 words."
- Try and try again: If the output isn't what you need, change your prompt or ask more questions.
2. Test it out
The most effective prompts may be identified using tests like A/B testing. You can determine which prompts are most successful at producing the desired outcomes by doing split testing.
3. Use sequential prompts
To get the most out of your text-to-text AI tool, enter one prompt and continue to clarify with additional prompts.
Break down complex queries or requests for content development into smaller portions or offer a list of desired responses.
4. Give examples
When you provide examples to AI models, they learn to give more accurate answers. Instead of asking for a general output type, you can be more precise by adding a format requirement in your request.
5. Audit AI document processes
Keep in mind that the information AI provides is a collection of web data condensed into a few sentences.
You'll want to review any AI-generated output carefully. You can use it as a beginning point for your company's documentation, but make sure it's correct before sharing.
6. Add multimedia for better documentation
After auditing the AI content in your business playbook, you can now share it with everyone in the company, right? Not yet.
Multimedia helps to explain your processes better. Here are a few ideas for creating detailed process documentation.
- Screencasts: With AI platforms like Loom, you can easily capture a screencast of yourself narrating a story or illustrating an idea.
- Photos: Relevant images or screenshots explaining your main points help your audiences visually understand your documentation. You might also include pictures of equipment with highlighted features.
- Videos: Videos can keep your content engaging. You can use video to document your customer service procedure. Or to create an introduction to your product. Videos can also give employees the background information they need before starting a project.
The best part about using AI software for process documentation is that you can use a single tool to do it all.
Scribe: how to document processes with AI
Scribe's generative AI creates documentation for workflows, including step-by-step guides, user manuals, and FAQs. With Scribe, you can easily transform a blank page into a comprehensive and contextual process document with just a few prompts.
Scribe AI saves you time by writing the who, what, when, where, and why, which is necessary for most procedures that include visual step-by-step guidance.
Using the Scribe browser extension, you can instantly generate comprehensive how-to manuals for any task.
Scribe streamlines the documentation of any process, allowing you to focus on the work at hand.
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How does Scribe help with process documentation?
Scribe provides help in two ways while creating process documentation.
To begin, it will compose the complete document for you. It's useful for creating standard operating procedures (SOPs), how-to guides, onboarding manuals, tool implementation guides, and so on from scratch.
Scribe can also be a helpful editing companion if you already have some written materials.
Some procedures are so unique and company-specific that a computer program could never write them well. In those cases, you may want to write your procedure manual from scratch and have AI review it for language, length and tone errors.
Simply enter a prompt and click on the Scribes you wish to include, and Scribe will add them to your document.
Scribe is the only AI platform to combine generative text with customized business workflows to tailor your process document to your organization's procedures and resources.
Power your process documentation with AI
We've given you the step-by-step play on how to document processes with AI tools and streamline the process of creating, updating and managing process documentation.
99% of employees say they’d love never to document processes ever again.
So don’t.
Say goodbye to manual documentation. Say hello to AI automation. Sign up for Scribe and see how we can make your life easier — today!
