Why humans are better than AI at ensuring quality? – Times of India

Humans created Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with their workload, and the irony today is that humans are being compared to AI. This science has featured in movies for decades like Blade Runner, I, Robot, the Terminator franchise, WALL-E, The Matrix franchise among others, showing that our fetish for AI, and today transitioned into our real life. AI is seen as the present and the future, something bound to reduce dependence on human workforce, however, we are certain that this technology isn’t perfect. After all, it is dependent on the pre-loaded data and information, something only human minds can mine from the real world. Though ever improving and already taking over some human jobs, AI is also limited to the extent of its data, which can only be harnessed by decoding human experience, which is an endless feat of knowledge. Although a nice idea, but it is still far-fetched to think that AI would replace human efforts in every area, including logic, creativity, and cognition. This is because the technology still has a lot of barriers to overcome, which can only be done by better technology which is quite the expense.

Creativity vs Algorithm

Humans are creative by nature and consequently find unique ways to solve problems, whereas AI produces results on the basis of algorithm only. It doesn’t understand context, it only understands the relationship between given input and complex mathematical models. Though called ‘artificial intelligence’, the technology does not have a mind of its own to address problems in unexpected situations, and maintain quality at the same time. In addition, people also have multiple perspectives. They are able to look at an issue from the point of view of different stakeholders, like clients, customers, end users etc., and ensure that a product is designed and made accordingly. They are more adept at comprehending the subtleties of a situation from different perspectives which is crucial for guaranteeing quality, which AI is not able to do.

Being human in dynamic environment

Further, humans have emotional intelligence which helps them recognise and cater to the needs and feelings of others. This ability enables humans to be empathetic and understand how people feel when playing a game or engaging with an application. It helps them feel what a user will feel or how they will react, and keeping that in mind, humans are able to deliver a quality product which ensures satisfaction. Moreover, human capabilities are more dynamic and varied, enabling them to envision, anticipate, sense, and assess altering conditions, and transition from immediate to long-term concerns. In contrast, AI’s abilities are simply responsive to the facts provided, that is, the pre-fed data. It has phenomenal capabilities, but they are limited in an ever-changing environment. Cognitive intelligence possessed by human owing to evolution is unmatched by AI which has been created by humans. People are capable of making sophisticated judgements and decisions considering a variety of factors like values, experience, and intuition. This is crucial in assuring quality in fields like product design, where it is vital to have a thorough understanding of the demands and preferences of the market. So once a set of tests doesn’t yield the kind of results expected, humans will find a way to tweak it, adapt or come up with something new altogether, whereas machine intelligence gets stuck here. It needs your input. This is because it does not have the emotional wavelength to understand the changing customer needs.

‘Common sense’

People are adjusting by nature, they face a new circumstance and through trial and error, find a way to change, there is a new hindrance, and people will find a way to overcome it. This attitude is crucial for maintaining quality in rapidly transforming workplaces. Whereas, creative thinking is AI’s biggest limitation, and this also happens to be a critical aspect in quality assurance. Though a valuable tool, AI lacks something that human thrives – ‘common sense’. This can be a reason why big organizations especially those involving monetary decisions like Banks and Financial institutions never give loans based on an AI based system. This uncertainty is only perishable by a human brain. Nonetheless, a marriage between human intelligence and artificial intelligence is the way ahead to ensuring best quality.