Will AI Become the New McKinsey? (newyorker.com) 29
Sci-fi writer Ted Chiang, writing for New Yorker: So, I would like to propose another metaphor for the risks of artificial intelligence. I suggest that we think about A.I. as a management-consulting firm, along the lines of McKinsey & Company. Firms like McKinsey are hired for a wide variety of reasons, and A.I. systems are used for many reasons, too. But the similarities between McKinsey -- a consulting firm that works with ninety per cent of the Fortune 100 -- and A.I. are also clear. Social-media companies use machine learning to keep users glued to their feeds. In a similar way, Purdue Pharma used McKinsey to figure out how to "turbocharge" sales of OxyContin during the opioid epidemic. Just as A.I. promises to offer managers a cheap replacement for human workers, so McKinsey and similar firms helped normalize the practice of mass layoffs as a way of increasing stock prices and executive compensation, contributing to the destruction of the middle class in America.
A former McKinsey employee has described the company as "capital's willing executioners": if you want something done but don't want to get your hands dirty, McKinsey will do it for you. That escape from accountability is one of the most valuable services that management consultancies provide. Bosses have certain goals, but don't want to be blamed for doing what's necessary to achieve those goals; by hiring consultants, management can say that they were just following independent, expert advice. Even in its current rudimentary form, A.I. has become a way for a company to evade responsibility by saying that it's just doing what âoethe algorithmâ says, even though it was the company that commissioned the algorithm in the first place.
A former McKinsey employee has described the company as "capital's willing executioners": if you want something done but don't want to get your hands dirty, McKinsey will do it for you. That escape from accountability is one of the most valuable services that management consultancies provide. Bosses have certain goals, but don't want to be blamed for doing what's necessary to achieve those goals; by hiring consultants, management can say that they were just following independent, expert advice. Even in its current rudimentary form, A.I. has become a way for a company to evade responsibility by saying that it's just doing what âoethe algorithmâ says, even though it was the company that commissioned the algorithm in the first place.
No. (Score:1)
No.
Re: No. (Score:2)
True ai first needs to learn how to play golfâ¦.
Idiocracy is what we will end up with (Score:4, Interesting)
all those AI machines doing all our work will only lead to a dumbing down of society.
Add the AI generated 'news' and information feeds on our favorite social media platforms and all breaks will be put on human evolution.
Just one more generation and 'Ow my balls' will be the most appreciated TV show.
Re: Idiocracy is what we will end up with (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I am not sure. The level of dumbness quite a few people aspire to (e.g. flat-earthers, anti-vaxxers, the deeply religious, etc.) is pretty impressive. Yes, Artificial Ignorance will do a bad job as well, but will it do a noticeably worse job than these morons? It may not and it is cheaper and more predictable. At the same time, smart and capable people cannot be replaced by "AI" and this will not change anytime soon and may well never change.
or the opposite (Score:2)
Idiocracy doesn't actually happen. If people got stupider by breeding we never would have gotten any smarter. One way or another intelligence is always an advantage. There's no niche in an environment it doesn't help you fill. Remember, evolution isn't about strength, it's about best fit for survival.
As for "Ow my Balls" Fox New's ratings have been falling for years, and Demographic changes mean it's only
Maybe Yes! (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Considering that management consulting consists of what ever is trendy at the moment troweled over the existing business structure with boilerplate buzzwords aided and abetted by clueless executives, yes the AI can wreck the company just as well as the humans.
The firm selling the AI will probably raise their consulting fees because it's "state of the art."
Re: (Score:2)
Think about it, Could Ai(minus the cognitive intelligence) become McKinsey? I say maybe, does what it is told, no ethics, morals and a lower head count. What is there not to like?
Nicely put! 8-) The trend is clear: AI will add still further to the immense and steadily growing stream of impressive-sounding, but actually meaningless verbiage that is lapping around our ears.
Okay, two can play that game (Score:3)
Will AI become the new paper towel?
Paper towels are used for a wide variety of reasons, and A.I. systems are used for many reasons, too.
Re: (Score:2)
I refuse to use AI unless it's got the extra cut so I can pull a half sized sheet. I don't need a full sized AI to dry my hands.
Re: (Score:2)
Select-AI-Size
Re: (Score:2)
Gigantic hands, I am just very efficient at drying them.
Re: (Score:1)
Obscure much? (Score:2)
Try an analogy that more people will know.
Will A.I. become the next McDonalds?
Will A.I. become the next Ford?
Will A.I. become the next Amazon?
It's not really that hard....
Re: (Score:2)
Will A.I. become the next McDonalds?
I doubt it. Computers are too big, hard, and lacking in nutrients.
Moreover I, like many others, find all the hype about "AI" very hard to stomach.
The End (Score:4, Insightful)
Lest we not forget... (Score:5, Interesting)
In 1980, McKinsey & Company was commissioned by AT&T (whose Bell Labs had invented cellular telephony) to forecast cell phone penetration in the U.S. by 2000. The consultant’s prediction, 900,000 subscribers, was less than 1% of the actual figure, 109 Million. Based on this legendary mistake, AT&T decided there was not much future to these toys. A decade later, AT&T had to acquire McCaw Cellular for $12.6 Billion.
Source: Prof. Angel Lozano [archive.org]
Re:Lest we not forget... (Score:5, Funny)
> The consultant’s prediction, 900,000 subscribers, was less than 1% of the actual figure, 109 Million. Based on this legendary mistake, AT&T decided there was not much future to these toys.
So that means .... Yes, AI can surely become the new McKinsey ?
Re: (Score:2)
There's 2 main aspects to management: dealing with the day-to-day, operational stuff, and improving your business so it grows or becomes more efficient. Take for example, a retail store for electronics. That store has a store manager, and a bunch of sales folks on the floor, warehous
Highly likely... (Score:2)
"But the similarities between McKinsey -- a consulting firm that works with ninety per cent of the Fortune 100 -- and A.I. are also clear".
Like the so-called "consulting" firms, so-called "AI" may be used by lazy, incompetent and cowardly managers to pass off their own plans as disinterested advice from expensive outside experts.
No, they will merge (Score:2)
The right question is rather "At the end of the process of AI-zation of consulting, how much of consulting as we know it will remain"?
I guess the outputs of such McKinsAI will contain a few per cent of human consultants' work.
Prior art (Score:5, Informative)
Manna (novel) - Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]
Manna - the book [marshallbrain.com]
Also, on Slashdot yesterday: Wendy's To Begin Replacing Drive-Thru Staff With AI Chatbots - Slashdot [slashdot.org]
a bigger threat (Score:2)
McKinsey dives into the deep end with AI and a company gets to request only certain training data be used for analysis of the company. That way, McKinsey's stock in trade is protected and the company gets the favorable review for which it is paying. Never discount a company's desire to cheat and for McKinsey to abet that effort.
It's not about AI or consultants (Score:2)
A society that accepts this reasoning is the problem. That goes doubly for the courts. The courts should reflexively just laugh such arguments right out of the courtroom and say "by definition, if it's your software, you are responsible for everything it does or fails to do."
This reminds me of an argument between me and my dad (first year Boomer) where he said e
I think everyone's missing the point here (Score:2)
You literally bring them in so if you get sued you can yell "not it!" and say it was just the consulting firm's fault. And because we've been packing courts with pro-corporate stooges you get away with it.
AI has even more plausible deniability. "I just did what the computer told me". And despite what you might have heard "just
No. (Score:2)
AI will replace journalists writing hit pieces on McKinsey, however.