AI Glossary · Definition
What is Robotic process automation (RPA)?
Robotic process automation (RPA): RPA is software that automates repetitive computer tasks by mimicking how a person clicks and types in applications' user interfaces.
By DAIDU EditorialUpdated
Robotic process automation (RPA), explained
RPA bots follow fixed scripts: open this screen, copy this field, paste it there. That makes RPA useful for older systems with no API, but brittle when screens change. AI automation differs in that it can handle variation and unstructured content, such as emails and documents, and usually connects to systems through APIs instead of screens. Many organisations now combine both: AI to understand the input, RPA or APIs to act on it.
Example
A bank uses RPA to copy data from scanned forms into a legacy core system that has no API, with AI reading the forms first.