How to Stay Smart in a Smart World: Why Human Intelligence Still Beats Algorithms

Gigerenzer (Risk Savvy), director emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, offers plausible reassurance for those who fear artificial intelligence is poised to take over human decision-making. Things that AI can do well, Gigerenzer explains, such as playing chess, occur in strict rules-based environments where there’s little or no chance of something unpredictable happening. The AI Watson’s vaunted Jeopardy! victory over human champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, for example, was less impressive than it appears, Gigerenzer writes, as it was the result of an altered game in which certain kinds of questions were excluded because it was anticipated that the AI wouldn’t be able to answer them accurately. Gigerenzer also covers more pressing issues, among them self-driving cars that are unable to accurately assess dangers to pedestrians, tech and ads that are designed to demand attention and distract users, and the large-scale voluntary abandonment of privacy. It amounts to a solid case against “unconditional trust in complex algorithms,” arguing that “more computing power and bigger data” won’t bridge the gap between machine and mind, because most problems humans face involve “situations in which uncertainty abounds.” Anyone worried about the age of AI will sleep better after reading this intelligent account. (Aug.)