We need Nostradamus too besides AI ?

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The heading may appear a bit queer for many but I am sure by the end of the article you would agree with my proposition. Let me explain.

Over the years we have seen technological advances in IT which has been harnessed for business outcomes. Positive business outcomes always help the society in large and spreads the economic benefit deeper into the strata. Over the years I have also researched on AI/ML and its various techniques such as MLR, Decision Trees, Random Forest, Neutral Network, etc. All these techniques are very useful and have been applied for prediction in various domains like Retail Analytics, Bank Fraud Detection, Market Basket Analysis, Image Recognition, Healthcare, etc. Based on the data collected at the granular level and by applying various complex algorithms predictions are made with a fair degree of confidence.

While AI/ML are being used by businesses, the business environment in which they are supposed to grow have been impacted in last four years by some shattering events such as Covid, Ukraine War and now the Israel-Hamas war. And hence the advantages of business growth are lost and we come back to square one with lots of uneven spread of poverty, malnutrition, economic disparity, environmental harm, greenhouse effect. And all this because we as a human race could not predict these events or we could not avoid these events and were not prepared for them. ?Even when a war was thrust based on the theory of WMD (Weapons of Mass destruction) we did have enough technical advancement to verify the veracity of the claim. But after the destruction by war some great leaders of powerful countries said it was an intelligence failure and the case was closed.? What does this all mean?

Recently I saw the movie “The Man who know tomorrow” and also read the book about prophesies of Nostradamus. Nostradamus was a famous French astrologer, mathematician, and author who lived in the 16th century. He is most famous for his purported prophecies, which he is said to have made regarding events such as wars, political upheavals, and natural disasters. Many of his predictions now appear to have been correct, heightening his posthumous fame and debate about his actual powers. He and his prophecies—revered by some, ridiculed by others—are still well known today, centuries after he lived, and continue to be the subject of debate. The real Nostradamus is believed to have had 70 percent of his predictions come true throughout history. Following Queen Elizabeth II’s demise, the name of the French astrologer is surfacing again in UK, as it is being said that Nostradamus predicted the exact year of the monarch’s death in cryptic poems. Since September 17, 2022, as many as 8,000 copies of the copies have been sold. A week before the Queen’s death, only five copies were sold. In last few months I have also studied and understood the Indian system of Astrology such as Vedic, Systems and even KP Astrology. These practices also predict events in a person’s life and that of a nation based on Planets and their positions and movements. While there is no direct relationship between Nostradamus and AI, both are areas of interest that are often associated with each other in popular culture and media. A.I. generated an A.I. language model called ChatGPT was tasked to write its own prophecies with the help of legendary French astrologer Nostradamus (based off the information he provides in his predictions). The AI version made seven predictions over the next hundred years including wars space travel and a cancer cure in 2031. An A.I. revolution in 2060 (it is not what it sounds to be) and peace on earth in 2099 (I wish I am alive till then).

Nostradamus is a famous French astrologer and literary figure known for his supposed psychic abilities and prophecies. In contrast, AI, or artificial intelligence, is a rapidly advancing area of technology that involves the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. While Nostradamus used astrology and other pseudo sciences to make predictions, AI relies on scientific principles such as machine learning and natural language processing to understand and respond to inputs. While both Nostradamus and AI involve prediction and analysis, they operate in very different ways and use different methods.

So here is my proposition. While AI/ML is used to predict a micro level we must also have some technology or method (like Nostradamus) to predict the events at a macro level which impact the business environment. Or else what ever gains we make will go futile.

Over the years we have seen great business leaders have predicted about future technical products and their usage. I have collated a few of them below. And you can see for yourself that none of these came true.

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1. The Internet Is a Fad and Will Die Out
2. Computers will never will lightweight.
3. The iPhone Will Be an Economic Flop
4. Television Is Too Boring to Have a Future
5. Mobile phones will absolutely never replace the wired telephone”.?Marty Cooper, inventor of the mobile phone, 1981.?
6. I don’t know… there just aren’t that many videos I want to watch.”??Steve Chen, founder of YouTube, expressing doubts about YouTube’s viability as a company. 2005.?
7. Fooling around with alternating current (AC) is just a waste of time. Nobody will ever use it.”?Thomas Edison, famous inventor and holder of more than 1,000 patents. 1889.?
8. Television will never hold onto an audience. People will very quickly get bored of staring at a plywood box every night”.?Darryl Zanuck, 20th?Century Fox, 1946
9. There is no reason an individual would ever want a computer in their home”.?Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977.?

10.Subscription models for music are bankrupt. I think you could make the Second Coming of Jesus himself available on subscription and it wouldn’t be successful.”?Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, 2003

Now we wait to check out for one more prediction as given below. Sometimes I wonder if these predictions are made by leaders to boost a market? Well the reader can decide.

11.? ?Recent prediction made: According to a report by Accenture, the use of personal assistants is expected to grow dramatically by 2025, with each individual having a dedicated assistant. Bill Gates Predicts Everyone Will Have AI Personal Assistant In 5 Years, Reality To "Change Completely"