The world of business is changing fast – with AI-powered solutions becoming increasingly commonplace and data-driven decisions that enabler better business intelligence, anticipate customer needs and drive solutions that produce better results. Yet many entrepreneurs remain unaware of the potential that leveraging heuristics offers for powerful, human-centered solutions. Heuristics and AI are two distinct tools that are perfectly complementary to each other and when combined, can unlock the potential for new avenues of artificially-induced reasoning, access near-limitless knowledge and be applied across many different industries.
Heuristics are processes which simplify potential outcomes, allowing humans to find solutions that, albeit not perfect, are efficient, suitable and quickly derived. It’s about leveraging stored data, synthesizing it and applying it, using intuitive models of decision-making that are similarly employed by humans. An example of this is setting the temperature on a thermostat, which would typically be based on the personal comfort of the person setting it, rather than an algorithm derived from readings of external temperature only. Heuristics can be used in combination with AI to enable tailored solutions.
This concept has become increasingly popular, with ChatGPT, developed by Open AI and Google’s Bard being two of the most cutting-edge applications. By using heuristics, both platforms can deliver conversational, human-like responses that are not just accurate, but relatable. It’s also important that these platforms maintain an ethical code, as has been strived for by Google. Heuristics are being employed in many industries, from healthcare, to genetic engineering and cybersecurity. In the latter, heuristics can be used to identify and delete phishing schemes and anticipate the malicious actions of cybercriminals by providing more reliable and advanced security solutions.
At the same time, leveraging heuristics can enable innovation. In an industry like startups, where decisions often rely on pinpointing and fulfilling an emerging need, heuristics can identify patterns and help decision-makers derive meaningful insights. This is an area where Forbes Technology Council can provide much-needed guidance and help business leaders get a better understanding of this technology.
Founded in 2014, Forbes Technology Council is a prestigious invite-only membership organization whose mission is to serve the world’s leading CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Invichtation is extended only to proven technology executives with a track record of bottom-line business impact, plus an interest in staying ahead of the learning curve – and leveraging heuristics can fulfill just that purpose. Members have a unique opportunity to take part in monthly virtual roundtables, local roundtables and discussions with experts, to keep one step ahead and identify more beneficial, human-centered solutions with tech.
