Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 8. Conclusion

A Reality Check on Artificial Intelligence

It’s too early to worry about a sentient AI apocalypse. The reality is that we know very little about how the human brain works—which means we know even less about how to build a computer that works just like the human brain. For very specific tasks, AI tends to make rapid progress until it matches human-level performance; then, progress tends to slow down. Despite fears of an impending AI dystopia, the technology is still very limited compared to human intelligence.

AI has many useful applications, though. It can drive competitive advantage. Find an area of the business that you can make as smart as possible as quickly as possible. Identify the AI data stories that you think might make a real difference. Test your ideas using utilities and small experiments. Learn and adjust as you go.

The current wave of AI works by using computer models to simulate intelligent behavior. Machine learning algorithms are good at learning new behaviors but bad at identifying when those behaviors are harmful or don’t make sense. Companies deploying AI will need a workforce trained to ensure that the technology remains both useful and safe.

AI adoption occurs fastest in digitized companies. The digital ideal is a company of people interacting with a core digital system. Most expect AI to automate the core system and eliminate people. But it’s more realistic to think of most companies as networks of people interacting with various, ...