There's been a lot of talk about artificial intelligence. But, not much talk about artificial stupidity. Believe it or not, its a thing. It happens. And sometimes those happenings are deadly.
I talk about it in this episode of The Jim Stroud Report
(On the last slide is a link to every article and resource cited in the report. Just in case you want to read it all in context. Just sayin'... )
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3. Yo, Jim, back away
from the camera. I’m
afraid your face will
break it.
Yeah, whatevuh…
4. Frank, whadda
ya’ doin’? Join
me on camera.
No.
People are curious
and want to see you.
No.
I’m sure there are some
single ladies out there
who want to see you.
Really?
Definitely! So… You
comin’?
No.
Sigh.
5. And he’s freakishly
strong!!! Able to resist my
pulling him into frame.
Its because I’m
pure of heart.
Ladies and Gents, I
really wanted to
introduce you to my
co-producer on a lot
of my content –
Frank Ferrari.
He helps me with
my editing. He’s a
good guy, a bit shy…
But, I digress…
Hi, hello and how are you?
Today, I am
pleased to say…
6. I have my
first fan mail
letter for The
Jim Stroud
Report!
(Printed out email.)
You are the smartest, cutest and most
amazing guy on LinkedIn. (smile) Anyway,
my question is this...
If AI is so smart, why does it (sometimes)
make mistakes? I don’t get it. Aren’t the
robots smarter than humans? I hope you
read this and answer my question.
#YouAreSoCute
Sincerely,
HR Crush
OMG! HR Crush, yes,
of course, I will
answer your question.
(Flattery will
get you
everywhere.)
7. Hey! It’s my lie! I’ll tell it anyway I want to.
Artificial
Stupidity
Frank, what do you
think we should call
this episode?
How about…?
Whose fault
is it when
machines go
bad?
Should the
HR Tech
industry be
worried?
“Artificial Stupidity” also applies to those who didn’t
figure out that you wrote your own fan mail.
No argument from me.
8. AI is a wonderful thing but, its not perfect.
Just ask Amazon!
11. Of course, no shade on Amazon. I can appreciate how they
have taken a few risks for the sake of workplace efficiency.
Gotta keep those Amazon packages coming, huh Jim?
Still, it makes me wonder if AI is so smart, how come it
(sometimes) do stupid* things? Well, there are 2 reasons as I see
them…
1. Wrong
thinking
2. Bad Data
*AI Stupid being defined here
as AI doing something other
than what it was intended to
do.
12. Back in 2018, a woman was killed by an Uber driverless
car. Why? AI spent more time analyzing what kind of object
was in front of it instead of avoiding hitting it altogether.
No matter how smart AI is, it does not think like a human.
Humans are used to navigating the uncertainties of traffic
in real-time. AI doesn’t always do a great job at managing
its reactions to ambiguity.
Wrong Thinking
13. For an example of bad data,
let me share a couple of
quotes from this article.
14. Olly Buston, CEO of consulting think tank, Future
Advocacy explained that machines often reflect human
biases.
“For example, if an algorithm used to shortlist people for
senior jobs is trained on data that reflects the fact that
historically, more senior jobs have been held by men,
then the algorithm’s future behavior may reflect this,
locking in the glass ceiling,” said Buston.
15. AI software is only as good as the data it is trained to
analyze. If a company only plugs in data points about one
part of the world, then the resulting program will not be
able to function as well in other places.
“There is a risk that an AI that is trained on data from one
population will perform less well when applied to data
from a different population,” Buston said.
For example, he said, there is a chance “some AI apps that
are developed in Europe or America will perform less well
in Asia.”
Meanwhile, one expert noted Asian countries’ increasing
progress in AI means more examples of bias problems are
likely to arrise from the region.
“So you could imagine, for an example, data that comes
from China and India — with combined population of 2.6
billion people when that data becomes widely be available
and used — there will be biases that we might not see in
the West but may be very salient or very sensitive in our
part of the world,” said Eugene Tan Kheng Boon, associate
professor of law at Singapore Management University.
16. And if you look at this
next slide…
On this next slide you
should see…
Umm…
Dude!
Where is the
next slide?
Take those
headphones
off! What are
you listening
to?
18. Where were we? Oh
yeah, a few more slides
past this one. Keep going.
I see where we are
now. Okay, let’s go.
19. So, how do we make AI
more intelligent and less
stupid? Especially when it
comes to using artificial
intelligence in HR?
I want to share
a few ideas.
WAYS TO MAKE
AI LESS STUPID
Check out this quote
from the site “Welcome
to the Jungle.”
20. Review your data sets before feeding it to the
machine. AI learns from the data so if the data sets
are better, it will learn better. Collect more diverse
data and correct existing biases. Ideally your data sets
should reflect your target population. They should
reflect your hiring objectives so you may have
to remove biased historical data.
Build an ethics framework to address AI bias. That’s
what Google aims to do with its “Advanced
Technology External Advisory Council” (ATEAC). “With
great power comes great responsibility”,
as Spiderman’s uncle used to say. Any company using
or developing AI should reflect upon that
responsibility.
Always take bias into account when choosing your HR
tools. Some AI solutions are designed to address the
problem. Others aren’t. Choose wisely! Fortunately
there’s more and more awareness among innovators
and that choice may become easier in the future.
Always keep humans involved in your HR processes.
Whatever AI tools you use, you will make it more
effective by putting people in the loop. AI works best
when it works hand in hand with humans who can
check and audit the processes. AI should never work
like a black box.
21. Well, that’s it for this
report. Did you like
it? If so, let me know
by leaving a
comment, or liking
or resharing it, or all
of the above.
One more thing
before I go, check
out this video. Its of
an AI teaching itself
to walk. Kind of
cool. Kind of creepy.
Check it out and you
decide.
26. Follow me on
LinkedIn to keep up
with my content. I
share content related
to…
#employment
#recruiting
#futureofwork
#talentacquisition
#thoughtleadership
#HR
#labortrends
Happy New Year!
See you in 2023!