“AI Confidence” Could Be a Trap
AI promises to do a lot for lots of different types of businesses. This starts with the kinds of LLM tools we’re all pretty familiar with by now, the ones that can generate reports and create drafts of documents and emails. And for some businesses and users, AI agents are showing even greater promise. These are instances of AI that can take sequences of actions on your behalf, not just answer your questions or analyze spreadsheets. But no matter how you are or aren’t using AI today, there’s a trap that businesses need to watch out for: overconfidence in AI. Some thinkers are calling this the AI confidence trap, and it’s worth thinking through. What Is the AI Confidence Trap? The AI confidence trap is essentially the belief that AI is delivering value where it isn’t, or that it’s delivering more value than it really is. This is common, and you’ve probably already experienced it on a micro level. Here are a few ways the AI confidence trap shows up. Close, But Not Quite Have you ever ask...