AI vs augmented intelligence—A post about marketing semantics in the tech industry
'AI' puts the machines front and center, while 'augmented intelligence' leaves the spotlight on the human.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has a marketing problem.
First of all, the term is everywhere. And everyone is using it. AI is sexy only to the laggards who recently accepted this internet thing isn’t going away and also started ‘hodling’ bitcoin1. The term ‘AI’ is broad af. So, the inclusion of AI is a terrible barometer for the complexity or usefulness of a product.
AI is the hot buzzword of the moment. So beware anyone touting the term just a little too much.
Secondly, AI paints images of machines taking people’s jobs. People don’t like the idea of being replaced. And, in some cases, the promise of a machine replacing a human is hyperbole. But, for some reason, we’re willing to give machines more credit than humans.
Advances in technology like ChatGPT are impressive. But the large language model (LLM) often spits out formulaic responses you’d expect from a disinterested eighth grader.
When you get down to it, AI is really good at math. And so it might write decent responses with the power of math and calculations of what works in each situation. But it’ll never have the gut instincts of a human.
Finding people willing to follow their gut in this post-industrial world is hard. But those few have the chance to create real value. Though it’s a challenge, humans can fight against their programming in a way machines cannot. So, AI will always be limited by the knowledge, foresight, and imagination of the human who designed it.
Augmented intelligence gives a helping hand
Augmented intelligence refers to technology that uses AI to improve (or, augment) human decision-making.
The semantics of augmented intelligence are less threatening than AI. The promise of enhancing is more appealing than the fear and risk of replacing humans.
Augmented intelligence sounds helpful while AI risks sounding like technology for technology’s sake—a solution in search of a problem. But augmented intelligence keeps the problem at the forefront. Literally. The adjective (‘augmented’) reminds you of its goal: To augment the user.
Why the marketing semantics of AI vs. augmented intelligence matter
Augmented intelligence lets the human remain the hero of the story, while AI makes the machine the hero. One may argue the angle of putting the machine in control worked in the story for the movie Terminator 2, but that’s true only because the machine (the T-800, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), became more human—and not because humans became more machine-like.
We must keep our focus on the humans even as we rely on machines more and more. Machines are here to serve and benefit humans, not the other way around.
In some ways, we’re far simpler than we’re given credit. Yet, in some ways, we’re far more complicated. As we rely on machines more, we’re bound to discover new depths of how complex we are, and how much we process in our subconscious.
How can we replace the human mind when we still know so little about how it works? This is why augmented intelligence is more particular and valuable than AI, at least in marketing terms. Augmented intelligence acknowledges it needs a human in the loop, in the driver’s seat, while AI says the machine can drive itself, headfirst into oncoming traffic.
- Definition of ‘hodling’ on Investopedia ↩︎
