Guide to Document Processing (And The Increasing Role of AI)

Organizations must process physical and analog data into digital archives for information retrieval and decision-making.

What is Document Processing?

Document processing refers to the method of capturing, organizing, and extracting valuable data from documents in various formats, such as paper-based forms, PDFs, emails, and forms. 

Document processing has evolved significantly over the years, moving from manual data entry to advanced intelligent document processing. This transformation was triggered by the increased influx of information, where traditional methods could no longer work effectively. 

Traditional Methods, No Longer Helpful

Traditional methods where humans read, extract, and enter data manually are virtually impossible in the context of today’s fast-paced environments. These methods still stand in certain areas. For instance, a receptionist at a hotel manually entering your personal and contact details while checking you in still works. But, in the context of finance or healthcare, these methods may not work.

Such methods pose the following limitations and challenges: 

• Time-Consuming: Processing large volumes of documents manually can be slow and inefficient
• Error-Prone: Human errors in data entry can lead to costly mistakes and inaccuracies
• High Costs: Requires significant labor and operational expenses
• Scalability Issues: Manual processing struggles to keep up with growing document volumes

Document Processing Upheaval 

Technological advancements have significantly transformed document processing. The introduction of OCR was a major milestone. For instance, OCR in banking helped across areas like KYC verification. Further innovations have paved the way for intelligent automation. 

Let’s explore how document processing evolved from simple text recognition to sophisticated AI-powered solutions.

The Introduction of Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

OCR technology emerged as a breakthrough in document processing, enabling computers to convert scanned images of text into editable and searchable formats. It allowed for faster digitization of printed and handwritten documents, significantly improving efficiency.

Advancements Leading to Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)

Over time, advancements in AI and machine learning have transformed OCR-based systems into Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) solutions. IDP goes beyond text recognition by understanding document structures, classifying content, and extracting relevant information automatically.

IDP software rely heavily on being able to extract data from documents and classifying it into different categories to be processed further. Real-time processing is a critical need of IDPs, which allows them to speed up workflows by scanning documents without any delay. 

They also need to have the ability to learn from historic and current processing and implement them in future data processing requirements. This enhances automation and drives scalability to these products, thereby increasing their usage in resolving real-life use cases.

How Does an AI-Driven Document Processing System Work?

Now that we’re aware of the need and evolution of AI-driven document processing systems, let’s understand how they work to better understand their implementation.

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1. Pre-Processing: The first step of an AI-driven document processing system involves identification of the data and grouping it into different categories, which is also a form of data ingestion.
2. Document Classification: Once the document has been pre-processed, the structure and layout identified are classified into the type of document that it is using natural language processing, OCR, and machine learning.
3. Data Extraction: After classifying the document, extraction of important data is carried out using NLP, ML, and OCR/handwritten text recognition, and placed for processing.
4. Data Validation: Robotic-processed automation is carried out using programmed rules by humans to ensure accuracy of extracted data for enhanced intelligent processing of documents.
5. Manual Validation: The final step in the process involves keeping humans in the loop to validate the ML-driven validated data to ensure further accuracy.

Benefits of Intelligent Document Processing

The adoption of AI in document processing offers numerous benefits, from enhanced accuracy to reduced manual effort. Organizations leveraging AI can improve efficiency, streamline workflows, and extract valuable insights from structured and unstructured documents.

1. Improved Accuracy and Efficiency: AI-powered document processing minimizes human errors and enhances accuracy in data extraction. It ensures compliance by validating extracted information against predefined rules and databases.
2. Reduced Manual Effort: By automating tedious data entry tasks, AI allows businesses to focus on higher-value activities, increasing employee productivity and job satisfaction. AI-driven document processing also allows businesses to scale their document processing workflows.
3. Enhanced Data Extraction from Unstructured Documents: AI-driven systems can process unstructured documents such as emails, contracts, and handwritten notes, extracting valuable insights that would otherwise require extensive manual effort.

How Arya.ai's Intelligent Document Processing can Empower Your Business

Integrating the ideal solution becomes critical for businesses to stay competitive and efficiently manage their growing document processing needs. Keeping that in mind, Arya.ai offers an Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) solution to help businesses automate and enhance their document management processes.

Here’s how Arya.AI’s intelligent document processing software can help businesses:

1. Deciphering Hard-to-Read Handwriting: Using AI and OCR to interpret messy handwriting makes document processing faster and more efficient
2. Digitize Paper Documents: Arya.AI’s IDP allows businesses to automatically extract and store information instead of manually typing data and scanning paper documents
3. Create Digital Documents and Reports: Arya.AI’s IDP has the ability to pull data from multiple sources to generate reports, documents, and other essential paperwork
4. Extract Accurate Information: Our robust software also identifies and extracts key details like names, addresses, and transactions with high accuracy
5. Organize Documents and Data: It helps create structured archives, making document retrieval quick and efficient
6. Improve Workflow Efficiency: By eliminating manual data entry, IDP allows teams to focus on more critical tasks.

Arya.AI’s comprehensive approach enables organizations to efficiently handle large volumes of documents, reduce manual errors, and fortify against various types of fraud.

By integrating Arya.AI's Intelligent Document Processing solution, enterprises can transform their document management systems, leading to increased efficiency, reduced fraud, and improved compliance across various operational areas.