Artificial Intelligence for Marketing

CHAPTER 8Where Machines Fail

As mentioned in Chapter 1, there are serious people who are seriously worried about unleashing artificial intelligence on the world. No attempt is made here to resolve the big issues surrounding the potential arrival of our computer overlords. Enough consideration is here to let you move forward, comfortable that you are not ushering in total annihilation by laptop, and that you are prepared to discuss these issues with those who have not yet had the chance to digest the possibilities.

We begin with the recognition that AI is simply a tool—a complicated and misunderstood tool—but capable of nothing more than what we allow it to accomplish.

A HAMMER IS NOT A CARPENTER

Like other forms of analytics, AI is a useful tool but not a replacement for decision making. Keep these following quotes in mind from academia, from literature, and from the movies.

The ability to collect, analyze, and store data in perpetuity has created a world in sharp contrast to how the mind has evolved to cope with everyday life. Forgetting (and recollecting) are inherently human qualities, and arguably necessary in a social context. To help people negotiate the digital universe, we need to invent algorithms that mimic in useful ways how we function as human beings.

Michael Rappa, Ph.D., Goodnight Director of the Institute for Advanced Analytics and Distinguished University Professor North Carolina State University

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, ...