Line 1A reporter's desk
The newsroom
Before An interview recording comes in every few minutes, and someone types each one out before a word can be written.
- Recording
- AI modelTranscribe
- AI modelDraft
- PersonEditor's review
- ScriptPublish
- Published
Machines do the typing and the first draft; the editor keeps the decision.
- Kept humanAuto-approve. An editor signs off, not a script. Judgement is the one thing that is not automated.
- ReplacedType it out by hand. Someone listens and types. It works, slowly.
Line 2A business's WhatsApp number
The WhatsApp inbox
Before Hundreds of customer messages a day, each read and answered by hand from a notes file — the same ten questions, over and over.
- Message
- AI modelSort by intent
- RuleReply from approved answers
- ScriptSend on WhatsApp
- Replied
The bot answers what has an approved answer, at once and at any hour; anything that needs a decision goes to a person.
- Not chosenLet a large model improvise. Approved answers cover the common questions for nothing — and say only what the business stands behind.
- Kept humanBot approves refunds. Money and complaints go to a person. The bot hands them over; it does not decide them.
- ReplacedRead every message. Someone scrolls the chat and works out what each customer wants.
Line 3An organisation's inbox
The shared mailbox
Before Every email is opened, forwarded to whoever should have it, answered from scratch and filed — and attachments are saved by hand.
- Email
- RuleFilter rules
- AI modelRoute and extract
- AI modelDraft the reply
- PersonOwner reviews and sends
- Answered
Rules clear the noise, models do the reading and drafting, and a person still presses send.
- Not chosenLarge model reads everything first. Rules catch spam, newsletters and auto-replies for nothing.
- Kept humanSend without reading. A reply in the organisation's name is read by a person before it goes.
- ReplacedSort the inbox by hand. Someone clears the noise every morning.
Line 4An organisation's own documents
The knowledge base
Before Staff ask the same questions every day. Someone searches the shared drives, pastes an answer, and half the time it is out of date.
- Question
- AI modelRetrieve passages
- AI modelAnswer from the passages
- ScriptCite the sources
- Answer with sources
Retrieval first: the answer comes from the organisation's own documents, and shows where.
- Not chosenPut every document in the prompt. Retrieval sends only the passages that matter — far cheaper, and the answer can say where it came from.
- Kept groundedAnswer from the model's memory. A model's memory is not the organisation's policy. Answers come from the documents, or not at all.
- ReplacedSearch the drives by hand. Someone opens folder after folder.
Line 5A hotline
The phone line
Before Calls are answered one at a time, notes are typed up afterwards from memory, and callbacks get forgotten.
- Call
- ScriptAnnounce the recording
- AI modelSpeech to text
- AI modelSummarise and tag
- ScriptRaise the ticket
- Ticket raised
Every call becomes a record and a follow-up, and the caller always knows it is being recorded.
- Kept privateRecord silently. Callers are told before they are recorded. Always.
- Not chosenAll-in-one voice AI suite. Two small steps do what the suite does, for less, and neither locks the line to one vendor.
- ReplacedType notes afterwards. The agent writes down what they remember.
Line 6The picture desk
The photo archive
Before Thousands of photographs a day, half with the wrong capture date and none with tags. Finding one means scrolling.
- Raw photos
- ScriptFix capture dates
- AI modelVision tagging
- ScriptEmbed metadata
- Searchable
Fix the root cause once, then let the cheapest model that is good enough do the rest.
- Not chosenPremium cloud vision. The standard vision model tags these just as well, for a third of the cost.
- ReplacedTag them by hand. Someone looks at every photo and types keywords.
Line 7The back office
The paperwork
Before Scanned forms are retyped into documents, checked by eye, and corrected again when someone spots a mistake.
- Scanned pages
- AI modelRead the scan (OCR)
- RuleValidation rules
- ScriptGenerate from template
- PersonOwner signs off
- Signed off
A rule where a rule will do; a model only where reading is actually needed.
- Not chosenAsk a large model to check it. A rule checks required fields and formats as reliably, for nothing.
- Kept humanAuto-sign. A signature means somebody accountable read it. That stays a person.
- ReplacedRetype it. Someone copies each page by hand.
Line 8The newsroom, a year on
Something new arrives
Before Stories now go out in English and Bangla. The line needs a translation step — and a new model has just been released.
- Recording
- AI modelTranscribe
- AI model · newNew model: draft and translate in one pass
- PersonEditor's review
- ScriptPublish
- Published
Keep learning: a new tool, understood and put to work, made the line shorter and cheaper.
