Feed: Slashdot
Feed Link: https://slashdot.org/
---

Title: 'Generative AI Is Still Just a Prediction Machine'

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/11/20/1517...

AI tools remain prediction engines despite new capabilities, requiring both
quality data and human judgment for successful deployment, according to new
analysis. While generative AI can now handle complex tasks like writing and
coding, its fundamental nature as a prediction machine means organizations
must understand its limitations and provide appropriate oversight, argue Ajay
Agrawal (Geoffrey Taber Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the
University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management), Joshua Gans (Jeffrey S.
Skoll Chair in Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Rotman
School, and the chief economist at the Creative Destruction Lab), and Avi
Goldfarb (Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare at the
Rotman School) in a piece published on Harvard Business Review. Poor data can
lead to errors, while lack of human judgment in deployment can result in
strategic failures, particularly in high-stakes situations. An excerpt from
the story: Thinking of computers as arithmetic machines is more important
than most people intuitively grasp because that understanding is fundamental
to using computers effectively, whether for work or entertainment. While
video game players and photographers may not think about their computer as an
arithmetic machine, successfully using a (pre-AI) computer requires an
understanding that it strictly follows instructions. Imprecise instructions
lead to incorrect results. Playing and winning at early computer games
required an understanding of the underlying logic of the game. [...] AI's
evolution has mirrored this trajectory, with many early applications directly
related to well-established prediction tasks and, more recently, AI reframing
a wide number of applications as predictions. Thus, the higher value AI
applications have moved from predicting loan defaults and machine breakdowns
to a reframing of writing, drawing, and other tasks as prediction.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

---
VRSS v2.1.180528