Using Artificial Intelligence to Optimize Decision-Making

It’s Monday. If you're like me, sometimes you're excited, and sometimes you want to pull the covers back over your head and stay in bed. Either way, Mondays feel more difficult when you have a big decision looming on top of the normal business demands.

On one hand, you want to make sure you’ve evaluated every angle. On the other hand, you know that delaying too long could come with its own set of costs. It's normal, but not fun.

Decision-Making Models

When it comes to decision-making, most of us use two different approaches, and they each come with their own return on investment.

Herbert Simon, a renowned researcher in computer science, economics, and cognitive psychology, introduced the concept of satisficing. Essentially, it means that when faced with a decision, we identify a few key criteria that are most important. Once we find an option that meets those criteria, we go with it. In other words, “It works, and it’s good enough.”

Contrast that with maximizing, where we take the time to sort through all possible solutions in search of the optimal outcome. This approach is more common when the stakes are high and we want the absolute best result.

Here’s an example:

Two men walk into a restaurant. They’re both hungry for meat. One of them opens the menu, sees a hamburger, and says, “I’m hungry, there’s a hamburger—I’ll take it.” That’s satisficing. It’s a quick decision based on key criteria: hunger and availability.

The other person? They carefully review the menu, compare cuts of meat, consider side options, and even ask the waiter for recommendations. That’s maximizing. They want to ensure they've exhausted all alternatives to obtain the best possible outcome.

Both decision-making models have their place. Our personalities will tend to prefer one or the other, but it helps to be aware of which situations demand which models.?

For example, spending hours comparing all available options is probably a waste of time when buying a light bulb. But if you’re choosing a business partner, please go beyond “Do I like them?” and “Are they in my industry?” Otherwise, you make yourself vulnerable to a legal battle, compromised peace of mind, business risk, or all of the above.

Simon’s research showed that people using the maximizing method usually had better real-life outcomes. This makes sense. One is less likely to miss a key variable that impacts the outcome. At the same time, those of us who have analytical personalities and lean toward excellence understand that this decision-making style can cost us time and opportunity.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Assist in the Decision-Making Process

While artificial intelligence is still developing and each platform is different, it can help fill in the gaps of both decision-making styles. If you like to make decisions quickly and lean toward the satisficing model (good enough), provide AI with the specifics of your scenario and ask if there is anything else you should consider. On the other hand, if your personality or the stakes at hand result in you wanting to “cross and dot” every potential outcome before moving forward, you might want to ask artificial intelligence for factors to consider, pros and cons, and to synthesize all of the above.

My own personality leans much more toward maximizing. It helps me quarterback situations and mitigate risk on behalf of my clients; however, sometimes, it’s exhausting. I recently had a high-consequence scenario in which I'd been consulting with experts who provided vague and contradictory information. I even argued with AI about its sources of information on the matter. However, in using artificial intelligence, as I described above, I sharpened my own thought process. That thought process helped me to discover underlying constructs and root causation, the key variables I'd been seeking all along.

Take-Aways:

1. Ask yourself and those around you which decision-making style you lean toward. Without that awareness, it’s easy to waste energy on trivial choices—or, worse, make rushed decisions on things that truly matter.
2. Assess if you are aware and flexible enough to adapt your style to the situation at hand for the best ROI of your time and mental energy.
3. Bounce the problem off of AI to account for more facets. This can be especially helpful if it’s a situation that feels awkward to run past the other humans in your space.
4. Ensure your final decision feels good at the “gut” level, discussed in analytical versus intuitive decision-making. At this point in time, AI deals with the prompts we give. Thus, factors that impact your decision may be beyond your consciousness. Even the most well-synthesized decision could be wrong if it “misses” nuances beyond the available information.