Everyone wants to know the future since no one won’t be caught off guard by the uncertain events. In Korea, internet users call the post or blog “Holy Place” when the prediction written a long time ago is realized. Those predictions are buried among other general posts without catching attention from others when they are released. Because those stories are not plausible or lack logical flows and supporting details.
To exemplify, if 100 people in the room are asked for the next big tech and its usage scenarios in 10 years, one or two scenarios could be realized. We may have more cases being realized in the future.
The prediction is important to prepare for events that can negatively impact our daily life like COVID-19. Many experts talk about incautious approaches and actions on COVID-19. What if we take this action or that action? The situation that we’ve experienced around us has already happened.
How do we more accurately predict the future and prepare for those probable scenarios? There are several ways that many experts and authors delivered in many ways from a scenario planning to a reverse stress test. And we have an option to implement our preparation with those trials.
The book, Prediction Machines, is a good guideline of how AI can be used to predict an uncertain future. It shows AI’s strong and weak area regarding future prediction in the book, which explains 4 areas of futuristic scenarios – known-known, known-unknown, unknown-known, and unknown-unknown.
Also, the book reminds us of how micro-targeted messages could change the mind of swing voters through the case of the 2016 presidential election in the US. AI can be a more powerful tool for the future by controlling variables as in the Netflix TV documentary, Social Dilemma, while its role is limited to a passive option for prediction or automation.
The book is worth reading to widen the boundary of understanding about AI’s roles and applications.