{"id":30475,"date":"2021-03-24T11:57:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T15:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=30475"},"modified":"2021-04-04T22:45:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T02:45:07","slug":"ai-decision-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ai-decision-making\/","title":{"rendered":"AI & Decision-Making: From Free Will to Algorithms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How is AI changing decision-making<\/a>? What decisions are already made with the help of AI technology? Can reliance on AI for decision-making cause us to lose our freedom and abilities to make our own choices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although in its infancy, AI is already changing the way we make decisions. For example, institutions already use algorithms to decide which loan applicants to approve or deny. Going forward, AI decision-making capabilities can easily allow us to make personal decisions, such as where to go to college, which career to pursue, and who to marry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for more about AI and decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

AI & Decision-Making: Shifting From Free Will to Technology<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As algorithms provide increasingly accurate suggestions, their convenience is almost irresistible\u2014but over-relying on AI for decision-making can cause us to lose the freedom and ability to make our own choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relegating decision-making to AI is another way that technology is undermining liberalism, which is all about freedom and personal liberties\u2014to vote, to buy goods in a free market, and to pursue individual dreams and goals with the protection of human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the advent of liberalism, societies were guided by mystical, divine messages from the gods. In the last few centuries, the authority shifted from gods to free will. Although free will feels free, it\u2019s actually a biochemical response honed by evolution and designed to help you survive and thrive.<\/strong> For example, when you see a snake, your reaction to run away is merely an evolutionary response to keep you safe. Similarly, when you feel bad after having an argument with a friend, your desire to make amends is not purely emotional, but rather a function of your biological wiring to cooperate within a community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This biochemical process meant to promote your safety and well-being\u2014which we call free will\u2014 has historically been a perfectly valid method of making decisions and running democracies. However, science has developed technology that can not only replicate <\/em>that process but also perform it better<\/em> than you can. As people shift authority from free will to computer algorithms, liberalism becomes increasingly obsolete.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People have already delegated some tasks to algorithms: You let Netflix suggest your next movie, and Google maps tells you when and where to turn. Each decision that algorithms make for you has two effects: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Your trust in the algorithm increases. <\/strong>When Netflix suggests a movie, and you end up loving it, that experience reinforces your reliance on Netflix\u2019s recommendation. Similarly, if Google maps tells you to turn left, but you turn right and get stuck in traffic, next time you\u2019ll follow Google\u2019s direction\u2014and when you do, and you arrive at your destination without traffic, you\u2019ll not only gain <\/em>trust in Google maps, but you\u2019ll lose<\/em> trust in your own abilities. <\/li>
  2. The algorithm learns more about your preferences<\/strong>, which enables it to make even better decisions for you in the future. As the algorithm gains more knowledge about you, it will make better choices for you, which will reinforce your increasing trust in its decision-making and decreasing trust in your own.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The algorithms won\u2019t be perfect, and they won\u2019t make the best decision every time\u2014but they don\u2019t have to. As long as algorithms make better choices on average than humans do, they\u2019ll still be considered a better alternative.<\/strong> Additionally, if people wear biometric sensors on or inside their bodies, those sensors can monitor heart rate, blood pressure, and other indicators of your preferences, opinions, and emotions. Using this data, the computer can make even more well-informed decisions for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The reliance on algorithms can easily snowball to more and bigger decisions, such as where to go to college, which career to pursue, and who to marry.<\/strong> An algorithm that uses your biometric data can learn what makes you laugh, what makes you cringe, and what makes you cry. This algorithm could use that data to find a compatible partner for you to marry, and it would probably make a better choice than you would with your free will, since your decision might be influenced by a past breakup or be otherwise biased in some way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If computers make all of your big decisions, your life would probably be much smoother without dealing with the stress of decision-making or the consequences of poor choices. But what would that life be like? So much of the drama and action in day-to-day life revolves around decision-making\u2014from deciding whether to take on a project at work to figuring out where to relocate your family. The value humans place on decision-making is reflected in various institutions. For example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n