Augmented Intelligence
Augmented Intelligence: Don't Write Off the Humans yet!
Aren’t you tired of hearing about Artificial Intelligence taking over our jobs or about a world ruled by data scientists? Well, we at DataStories International definitely are.
Building advanced data analytics software and harnessing the power of computers to support innovation at our clients is our bread and butter. Through our work helping scientists, engineers and experts to generate and apply meaningful insights from data, we understand and appreciate the challenges and opportunities businesses face in making analytics deliver. That’s why we feel that the scenario where Artificial Intelligence replaces humans and takes over decision-making is rather an absurd one (a far-fetched one, or belongs to the far future)
Artificial Intelligence vs. Human Intelligence
So, what is intelligence? Intelligence is the ability to predict. It gives us, humans, the advantage of anticipating what is to come and what would the consequences of our actions be. Admittedly, computers are much better than humans in processing hundreds and thousands of factors that can potentially impact outcomes. Using computers to build predictions is a faster and more reliable way to know outcomes and uncover unexpected relationships. However, it's up to the expert to critically evaluate and validate the meaning of the predictions and decide on an appropriate course of action. This is impossible without relying on the expert’s specialist knowledge and experience of the relevant business domain.
Innovation by Computers?
Innovation involves both invention and commercialization. Any business strives to efficiently deliver relevant products and services with maximum customer experience. Analyzing data from experimentation, production, and customer feedback, businesses can quantify the consequences of their decisions. What is more, they can use the insights to optimize the features of products and services to improve customer experience, retention and ultimately achieve higher sales and profits.
However, an innovation process, which relies on Artificial Intelligence without human participation and interpretation is doomed – predictive insights can lead to successful innovation only if they are understood and applied by domain and functional experts. That's why data scientists alone will never rule the world, nor will Artificial Intelligence take over decision-making within the research and development field.
Augmented Intelligence
In our view, the real opportunity for businesses to enhance innovation through analytics lies in empowering experts to make better decisions by equipping them with flexible and user-friendly tools generating meaningful insights. This is called Augmented Intelligence - when the intelligence of business experts is augmented by machine learning and advanced analytics algorithms. This synergy between business expert and computing power is the core added value of Augmented Intelligence. Companies who embrace this data-driven approach to innovation will be better, faster and more efficient than the competition.