(
Robotic
Process
Automation) Software that replicates a variety of human tasks at a computer. Filling out forms is a common example. Whereby a human operator would type data into the fields on screen, an RPA program would perform the same tasks, although the action would be internal rather than using a keyboard and mouse and not visible like an autofill function.
Using machine learning, some RPA programs are able to enter information that is missing from the source data, whereas others might require human intervention and perhaps only occasionally. RPA can alleviate a lot of boring tasks that many employees dislike, and they can often be implemented much faster than a traditional systems analysis and IT solution. See
autofill.