Books For Decision Makers: Volume 3 - Mind over Machine
The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer.
There is no denying that technological advancements have greatly contributed to our society by making things easier and more efficient in nearly all aspects of life. The use of computers and automation help to better perform processes and procedures with minimal human interference. When programmed correctly, these processes are often carried out with more accuracy and preciseness than that of any human capability. In many ways, by taking out the human element, tasks can be streamlined and completed numerous times over in the exact same way.
In his book, Mind Over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer, Hubert L. Dreyfus analyzes human expertise versus the programs that claim to duplicate it. He argues that the idea of artificial intelligence being superior to humans is a myth, especially when it comes to problem solving within a dynamic environment. AI systems are based on overly simplistic modelling of human problem solving. Machines, or AI, are programmed and governed by a set of rules, and therefore will never be able to achieve the performance of well-trained, knowledgeable human beings, no matter how many rules are added to the knowledge bases.
Dreyfus’ overlying theme, that human intuition and perception are the basic, essential phenomena in making conscious decisions and these aspects cannot be replicated by computers. True human experts draw on so many other elements outside a set of predefined rules. He argues that humans hold a sense of situation and appropriateness in regards to their environment and are able to adapt and adjust on the fly to changing conditions. Humans base their senses on their goals and culture, which Dreyfus defines as “all of our unconscious intuitions, attitudes and knowledge about the world.” This context of background information, as he refers to it as, is not stored in our brains symbolically as information is formatted into a machine, but rather intuitively. The human brain is constantly discriminating between relevant information that it deems essential and inessential when problem solving or simply carrying out tasks. The inessential things are not abandoned, but relegated to our “fringe consciousness.” This consists of millions of things we are aware of, but don’t really think about. These things however could be called upon when applicable.
The authors assert that human problem solving and expertise depend on our background sense of the context. Humans are able to determine what is important and interesting given the situation, rather than on the process of searching through combinations of possibilities to find what we need. They break this down into 2 specific processes:
“Knowing-that” is our conscious, step-by-step problem solving abilities. We use these skills when we encounter a difficult problem that requires us to stop, review the situation and search through possible solutions, one at a time. The ideas we formulate become very precise and simple: they become context free symbols, which we manipulate using logic and language.
“Knowing-how,” on the other hand, is the way we deal with things normally. We take actions without using conscious symbolic reasoning at all. Examples include when we recognize a familiar face or come up with the right thing to say in a specific situation. We seem to simply jump to the appropriate response, without considering any alternatives. Dreyfus argues, “when our intuitions have been trained to the point that we forget the rules and simply "size up the situation" and react, this is the essence of expertise.”
Furthermore, the book lays out the 5 incremental stages necessary for becoming an expert: Novice, Competency, Proficiency, Expertise and Mastery.
Source: richrtesting.com/the-dreyfus-model-a-visual-summary/
As the learner progresses across the 5 stages, the chief defining aspect that separates experts from those with proficiency and even more so the top masters from the experts is intuition. The authors summarize their findings by saying: “Competent performance is rational; proficiency is transitional; experts act rationally.” Experts don’t spend time to analytically process a set of rules in order to solve a problem. Instead the jump to conclusions and react instinctively and intuitively without giving it much thought.
They draw on a plethora of past experiences and perform the task seamlessly and confidently. Take the game of baseball for instance. It is often said that hitting a professional pitcher is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports. Imagine you are the hitter, in the batters box waiting for the pitch. You have a split second to decide if the pitch is hittable or not. Is it a fastball, a curveball, inside, outside, high, low, and then you still have to go through the swinging motion and hope to make solid contact with the ball. There are way too many things to process in such a short amount of time for most people and only the best of the best are able to succeed. Also what is even more baffling is that a success rate of 30%, or a 300 batting average, is considered elite. During the 2018 season, only 16 Major League Baseball players were able to accomplish this feat out of over 300 players.
It is important to note that Dreyfus does not believe that AI is fundamentally impossible. He believes the current program is fatally flawed as it is impossible for current AI to harness the background knowledge and instincts essential to lightning quick problem solving and intuition displayed by human beings. He argues that in order for a device to have human-like intelligence, it would require the AI to have a body or home more or less like that of a human and to live in a constantly evolving society much like our own. Only through this, Dreyfus says will the implementation of artificial intelligence algorithms advance to new heights and have the potential of one day rivaling the human brain.
What’s very interesting and also somewhat unnerving is the fact that scientists are working around the clock trying to do just that. AI are being given bodies similar to ours and they are learning and attempting to develop a consciousness of sorts. Machines are supposed to make the lives of humans better and easier, but what if the countless movies and stories of machines growing too smart for their own good and conquering humans is quickly becoming an all too real reality. For now, Mind Over Machine remains true, but for how much longer will it last.
Tyler Krebeck
Chief Content Manager
Florianópolis, Brazil.
September 21th, 2019