The behavioral revolution in economics was triggered by a simple, haunting question: what if people don’t act rationally? This same question now vexes the technology field. In the online world, once expected to be a place of ready information and easy collaboration, lies and hate can spread faster than truth and kindness. Corporate systems, too, elicit irrational behavior. For example, when predicting sales, employees often hide bad deals and selectively report the good ones. AI stands at the crossroads of the behavioral question, with the potential to make matters worse or to elicit better outcomes from us. The key to better outcomes is to boost AI’s emotional quotient — its EQ. How? By training algorithms to mimic the way people behave in constructive relationships.
Can AI Nudge Us to Make Better Choices?
Machine learning, meet behavioral science.
May 02, 2019
Summary.
The fields of behavioral science and machine learning provide some promising techniques for creating more “emotionally intelligent AI that organizations are putting to work to produce better outcomes. The key is to boost AI’s emotional by training algorithms to mimic the way people behave in constructive relationships. Thus new systems note changes in people’s patterns and nudge them to see if they want to make a correction; they encourage self-awareness by helping people compare their performance with others; they apply game theory to accept or challenge conclusions; and they help decision makers focus on the right right task at the right time.