The track record for AI is not great. Predictive analytics is unfair to many people. For instance, the predictive algorithms that determine decisions about prison recidivism and leniency tend to be twice as hard on black men as on white men. (One of many examples, and not all of the bad ones are in the US or China. There's a horrific cas…
The track record for AI is not great. Predictive analytics is unfair to many people. For instance, the predictive algorithms that determine decisions about prison recidivism and leniency tend to be twice as hard on black men as on white men. (One of many examples, and not all of the bad ones are in the US or China. There's a horrific case of misplaced fraud crackdowns in the Netherlands. Biased decisions, using AI as justification, took children away from caring parents.)
One of the many ironies of predictive analytics is that it's hard to know, in advance, whether it will be accurate.
The problem with AI is indeed GIGO, but with a twist. It gives people a feeling that we all crave, that it's human nature to crave: the feeling of being in control of things. Meanwhile, it makes it harder to know when you have genuine control and when you don't.
People who are supposed to oversee automated systems tend to slough off. This phenomenon was first noticed in airplane pilot training. It's called "automated complacency."
Delegating tasks to AI, like having it compose your email, gives you a feeling of control, a little rush. You're getting it done! But you've actually given up a little piece of control. This is called "frictionlessness."
Automated complacency and frictionlessness are addictive. Unfortunately, the only solution is to pay attention to when you delegate, and keep monitoring it. Which takes away from that terrific feeling.
Or write fewer emails. And already, you're probably not keeping up. I'm not.
As Sheena Iyengar says, You know you have real control over something when it's difficult.
Juliette Powell and I have a book coming out this summer called The AI Dilemma that goes into all this. ChatGPT and the new Bing appeared just in time for us to include them in the book. But the real dilemma, the question of how to live well with AI, is not about the latest release. It's not even about AI technology.
The tech is a forcing function. It's forcing us to develop the skill and fortitude we would need anyway -- among other things, to deal with politics. Not sure we're going to develop it in time, but I tend to buy Thornton Wilder's optimistic view of human nature in The Skin of Our Teeth.
'The tech is a forcing function. It's forcing us to develop the skill and fortitude we would need anyway -- among other things, to deal with politics."
Love this, Trump was also a forcing function. I hope we and the Bulwark folks have developed the skill and fortitude we need to deal with Trump and his followers....including Desantis.
The track record for AI is not great. Predictive analytics is unfair to many people. For instance, the predictive algorithms that determine decisions about prison recidivism and leniency tend to be twice as hard on black men as on white men. (One of many examples, and not all of the bad ones are in the US or China. There's a horrific case of misplaced fraud crackdowns in the Netherlands. Biased decisions, using AI as justification, took children away from caring parents.)
One of the many ironies of predictive analytics is that it's hard to know, in advance, whether it will be accurate.
The problem with AI is indeed GIGO, but with a twist. It gives people a feeling that we all crave, that it's human nature to crave: the feeling of being in control of things. Meanwhile, it makes it harder to know when you have genuine control and when you don't.
People who are supposed to oversee automated systems tend to slough off. This phenomenon was first noticed in airplane pilot training. It's called "automated complacency."
Delegating tasks to AI, like having it compose your email, gives you a feeling of control, a little rush. You're getting it done! But you've actually given up a little piece of control. This is called "frictionlessness."
Automated complacency and frictionlessness are addictive. Unfortunately, the only solution is to pay attention to when you delegate, and keep monitoring it. Which takes away from that terrific feeling.
Or write fewer emails. And already, you're probably not keeping up. I'm not.
As Sheena Iyengar says, You know you have real control over something when it's difficult.
Juliette Powell and I have a book coming out this summer called The AI Dilemma that goes into all this. ChatGPT and the new Bing appeared just in time for us to include them in the book. But the real dilemma, the question of how to live well with AI, is not about the latest release. It's not even about AI technology.
The tech is a forcing function. It's forcing us to develop the skill and fortitude we would need anyway -- among other things, to deal with politics. Not sure we're going to develop it in time, but I tend to buy Thornton Wilder's optimistic view of human nature in The Skin of Our Teeth.
'The tech is a forcing function. It's forcing us to develop the skill and fortitude we would need anyway -- among other things, to deal with politics."
Love this, Trump was also a forcing function. I hope we and the Bulwark folks have developed the skill and fortitude we need to deal with Trump and his followers....including Desantis.