From Fax to AI: The Technologies That Supercharged Human Productivity

Of course, the invention of the telephone revolutionised business communications. Letters and horse-drawn journeys to the next town were no longer the fastest way to get a deal done. But that was before my time.

In my own working life, I’ve witnessed several key inflection points; moments where a new technology didn’t just streamline a process, it multiplied human productivity. These weren’t just upgrades; they were catalysts. They didn’t replace us, they expanded what each of us was capable of achieving.

A (non-exhaustive) list, based on the sheer impact I recall witnessing first-hand, includes the adoption of the fax machine, the proliferation of email, and the invention of the mobile telephone. Each of these, in its own way, changed the pace and scale of business forever. They enabled one person to do more, reach more, and respond faster. They exponentially increased the number of transactions that could be completed in a given period, unlocking more business, more often.

The Fax Machine: Instant Documents in a Paper World

Before the fax machine, sending a document meant posting it, or in urgent cases, physically delivering it. This meant days of delay and a world of friction. The arrival of the fax machine changed that almost overnight. With a hum and a screech, paper could be transmitted over a phone line and arrive within minutes on the other side of the world.

The impact on business was dramatic. Contracts, purchase orders, schematics, anything, could be shared instantly. It meant decisions could be made faster, projects progressed sooner, and opportunities weren’t lost to lag time. For its era, it was a game changer, and a miracle of speed.

Email: The Always-On Communication Layer

Where fax was a leap, email was an explosion. It didn’t just reduce the need for paper; it reinvented how we communicated. Suddenly, we could send messages to multiple stakeholders, attach documents, and keep a digital trail, all in a matter of seconds.

But it wasn’t just about convenience. Email enabled asynchronous productivity; the ability to communicate without needing both parties available at the same moment. You could work late, send updates, and have decisions waiting in your inbox by morning. It amplified team collaboration, accelerated project timelines, and redefined global communication.

The Mobile Telephone: Business Unplugged

Then came the mobile phone. Not just a convenience, but a liberation. Business no longer had to wait until someone was “back in the office.” Salespeople could close deals from the road. Executives could stay on top of issues between meetings. Entrepreneurs could run entire operations while boarding a flight.

It transformed the definition of availability and redefined responsiveness. Work didn’t stop because you stepped out of a building, and that changed everything.

The Next Inflection Point Is Here: AI as a Productivity Multiplier

Each of these technologies; the fax, the email, the mobile, did something profound. They amplified the individual. They didn’t replace the worker; they empowered them. They gave people tools to do more, do it faster, and reach further.

We’re now at the next inflection point, and once again, it’s about amplification. Artificial Intelligence is here, and it’s not going away.

But let’s be clear: AI isn’t about replacing people. It’s about making each of us more powerful contributors. Just as email didn’t eliminate communication, it enhanced it, AI doesn’t eliminate work, it enhances our ability to perform it.

Today, AI tools can generate high-quality content, summarise complex documents in seconds, analyse data in real time, and even build software applications at a speed we never thought possible. What used to take teams of engineers months can now be prototyped in hours and days. A product manager with no code experience can collaborate with AI to create functional software. The barriers to building, iterating, and launching have been lowered like never before.

This is the next productivity leap, not a step, but a vertical climb.

Amplified, Not Replaced

The most important takeaway from this new age of AI is simple: it’s not about taking away human tasks, it’s about us being able to do so much more.

AI is not your competitor. It’s your co-pilot. It’s the colleague who never sleeps, who has read every manual, who can spin up a prototype while you’re in a meeting and bring you insights from data that would take a team weeks to crunch.

Like the fax, email, and mobile phone before it, AI is the tool that will define the next generation of business. Not by side-lining human contribution, but by amplifying it.

We are not being replaced. We are being upgraded…