In 1966, Abraham Maslow, originator of the Hierarchy of Needs, made this well-known observation:
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
This type of cognitive bias became known as Maslow’s hammer or the Law of the Instrument.
I’ve been thinking about that line in the current state of AI. AI is sometimes talked about as the solution of every marketing and business problem. And it’s hilarious to see products and companies stretch the already loose definition of “AI Powered.”
Early this year, I had the chance to hear Cassie Kozyrkov talk about AI. We were both speaking at Marketing Festival Brno. Cassie is the CEO of Data Scientific and Google’s first Chief Decision Scientist. She had a refreshing way of separating the hype from the true potential of AI in business.
Last month, Cassie shared this insight, which I thought was worth quoting at length:
“The great irony of being an AI advisor is that many enterprise leaders who come to me don’t need AI at all.
“Like most things in life, the best approach in enterprise is to start not with the technology, but with the business problem you’re trying to solve.
“AI may be the solution you need. But it should be what you try after traditional programming fails. When you have something to automate, but you aren’t able to do it with your existing bag of tricks. When the need is so critical that you’re willing to add complexity and the reduction of control that comes with it…
“The kiss of death for enterprise value … is throwing AI at poorly defined problems or problems better suited to non-AI solutions that no one bothered to try.
“Always start with the business problem, no matter what the sales reps say.”
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:
