“Digital employee”, a term that once had a slightly sci-fi flavor, is becoming a realistic way of working.
In the past year or two, the capabilities of AI have been significantly improved. Especially at the beginning of this year, AI Agent can already take over browsers, read and write files, execute code, and call terminals. Many people really feel that AI has begun to truly “hands-on work.”
Here are some stories of people from different industries using “digital workers”.
Crazy about AI infrastructure, lawyers use 45 skills to teach Agent to help with work
33-year-old Suzhou lawyer Yang Weixin started using Agent tools in April and May last year.
He started by developing gadgets and later applied them to his legal practice.
He spent five months writing 45 skills, allowing the agent to produce “French language” as required during case handling, research, creation and other aspects.
He lets the Agent automatically capture news and cases in the legal field every day. When handling the case, the Agent can complete downloading, archiving, format conversion, legal analysis, etc., and finally outputs a defense statement or a first draft of a legal service plan, but the key still requires manual inspection.
His monthly AI subscription expenditure is about 1,000 yuan. With the help of Agent, he can complete legal business in 20% of the time, and the rest of the time is used to “build infrastructure.”
He suggested that people who want to use Agent first find small scenarios and accumulate methodology into skills.
Three employees left, and cross-border e-commerce relied on four AI employees to take over.
Lei Zi, a 32-year-old cross-border e-commerce practitioner in Chengdu, originally had three employees. After the operation left, he tried to use AI to replace it, and the results were good.
Later, the artist and customer service also left, and now he forms a team with four digital employees.
Claude is in charge of copywriting, Fin is in charge of customer service, Cursor is in charge of coding, and the automated system is in charge of advertising placement.
His monthly AI subscription plus API monthly fee is about 4,000, which greatly reduces the cost.
However, there are times when AI makes mistakes, such as errors in advertising copy, and since then it has strictly reviewed customer-facing content.
He suggested not to pursue full automation from the beginning, but to explain detailed work rules to the AI, and at the same time, one’s own judgment should not deteriorate.
The investment manager has an agent to work for him who stays up late
Ray, a 36-year-old GP partner of Beijing RMB Fund, has been investing in the primary market for almost ten years.
Due to the work pace and time difference, he often needs to be “on call 24 hours a day”.
One morning, he asked the agent to research a semiconductor equipment company, and the next day he found that it had completed a lot of work.
Later, his “AI digital employee” could do road show summaries, corporate research, schedule management, etc. while he was sleeping.
He also built a BP filter, and AI did the preliminary screening and classification first.
His average monthly expenditure on AI is less than US$1,000, and “digital employees” can help him solve more than 80% of his work.
The founder of a travel brand uses AI tools to improve efficiency
The 29-year-old founder of travel and corporate travel service brand @FreddyCosmos has a team of 10 people, and with the addition of AI tools, the team size exceeds that.
He uses AI according to the role division, ChatGPT is a consultant, Cursor is an engineer, Codex is an intern, and Figma is a designer.
He invests about 1,000 yuan per month and gives the AI team a score of 7.5.
His summary of the experience is that tasks should have boundaries, complex tasks should be divided into stages, and the boss should make the final decision.
Reporters hire AI as interns, editors and teachers
Vincent, a 30-year-old business reporter, started using AI in July last year.
AI is sometimes like an intern to him, suitable for organizing interviews; sometimes it is like an editor, able to polish and smooth out logic; sometimes it is like a teacher, lowering the threshold for understanding.
He spends 1,000-1,500 yuan per month and rates AI employees 7 points.
He believes that the people who use AI best are those who have many needs and ideas and are clear about the boundaries of AI. They should not just pursue efficiency improvements, but should use the time saved by AI for observation, thinking and self-training.
In general, “digital employees” have truly appeared in daily work in different industries. Although they have certain limitations, they have played an important role in improving work efficiency and reducing costs. In the future, people need to better collaborate with them.
