Is human irrationality our biggest strength in a future dominated by AI?

A couple of weeks ago I received an image on Whatsapp (below) as a group message.

After a bit of funny banter I was left thinking, how true is the above image in representing what could be a not too distant future?

I was asking myself are we reaching a stage where we act and machines control?- I know a totally dystopian thought no different to hundreds of Hollywood movie scripts that are out there.

The more I thought that more I disagreed with myself. I wasn't ready to believe that AI could get better than us (definitely not today and not in the next decade), but there was always this "What if?" thought lingering in my mind (still does).

This is when my focus shifted to decisions humans make and how we make them. There some great research pieces on this topic and none more important than Daniel Kahneman's and Amos Tversky's discovery of “cognitive biases,” showing that that humans systematically make choices that defy clear logic. (1970s)

Read more about it here:

While we argue that AI based on rich data could get us better results (today) and moving towards more cognitive decision making (using heuristics, mind-machine interfaces etc.) the whole construct seems to be centered around rationality. If you look around most of the use-cases (currently spoken about) they point towards efficiency and accuracy.

Though Deepmind might seemingly prove it otherwise when it created AlphaGo, but even in that scenarios experts have argued that though seeming irrational the engine could not explain the thinking behind those moves, which otherwise has a deep psychological meaning. (below)

I strongly believe that our irrationality in decision making (call it instinct, gut or any other term) is our trump card!

There is something physiological, based on our evolution that has ingrained in us which is hard to quantify and decode (again it is zillions of data points learnt over centuries), but this still helps us solve dilemmas- 'cos at the center of it is "Emotion"!

It is this that is unique to our creativity, our perspective, beliefs, values etc. While the machine learns based on what we have done in the past and hence extrapolate expected outcomes, I'm still not convinced about certain aspects:

• Can it really decide on aspects that it might not have any prior reference data?
• Can AI in the future become multi-contextual?
• Can it develop cognizance and conscience?
• What about identity and awareness?
• What about Fight or Flight? (may be this is more easier than others)

If we go back in time and see most of our inventions- it has hinged upon this irrationality which has made us ingenious in some ways. Most of us have taken decisions that are at odds with logic, but have been proven right...so may be it is this skill that we try to hone and strengthen...

What do you think?