Is AI Better Than Humans Algorithm?
The come back of “human curation” while AI is growing
Even though most of us do not need to spend time commuting, one of the habits that remain the same is checking our phone: checking emails or messages, reading some news or surfing the social. Given the situation that has created our new reality, it is reported our screen time has risen to the peak. A lot of people are more glued to social media especially Instagram and Tiktok with a high increase in usage. Some of us also binge-watch Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or HBO resulting in the platforms reported having to reduce the streaming quality due to the rise in usage all over the world. Online shopping and food delivery have become one of our best friends in these past weeks. We inevitably rely on these technologies more than ever.
Behind all these daily-life-tools we inevitably rely on, whether it’s social media, entertainment streaming platforms, media consumption from digital publishers, online shopping and e-commerce or online delivery services, all are equipped with personalization and recommendation system based on our data and behavior. All are also powered by the use of big data, machine learning and AI.
Personalized Recommendations as the basis of consumer’s expectation
As a consumer, we are already in the system of accelerating the rise of AIs. Personalization is not something beyond anymore but it has become a default premise — the basic need we all expect to have. We are used to being presented with news and content that are relevant to us on Facebook, with our potential favorite movies or series on the first page of Netflix, with videos we might find it interesting played next on Youtube, with our possibly favorite new songs curated on the Spotify’s Discover Weekly, with products we used to buy or have searched more info on Amazon, or with restaurants best matched with our food preference. All these activities we live our normal days, are all influenced by AI.
However, amidst the growth of AI technology, we can now start to see another side of the story which is the coming back of “human curation”
The come back of human curation
Big-name tech-based companies like Netflix, HBO, Disney, Youtube or Apple have started the trend of bringing back the human touch into improving its recommendation system along with the use of machine learning alone.
Netflix tests a curated content recommendation system, called Collections
Netflix is typically known for its accurate recommendation system with the fact that more than 80 percent of the TV shows people watch on Netflix are discovered through the platform’s recommendation system. The giant streaming platform launched a new pilot feature later last year, under the concept of human-led curation project, called Collections. Under this feature, the content recommendation system is not purely based on machines anymore but the titles are curated by experts on the company’s creative teams. It was not confirmed how long the test would be run but it is definitely something the company shows interest in.
“We’re always looking for new ways to connect our fans with titles we think they’ll love, so we’re testing out a new way to curate Netflix titles into collections on the Netflix iOS app,”
HBO — Recommended by Humans
HBO also showed its focus on the real human connection by launching a site called “Recommended by Humans” as an option for viewers. The television network hired real people to be the voice and work as humans algorithm, creating the site that is powered by real recommendations from real people, using their real tweets or testimonials.
Disney Plus, another new player in the streaming battlefield also announced that they would factor in the human element into its recommendation system by utilizing “a combination of human editors and machine learning algorithms” in order to provide the best-persolized experience for users. While, Apple redesigned its thinking with the approach of humans over machines by hiring an editor-in-chief for its Apple News app to use the human-led direction and pick which stories to promote. Youtube also launched “Collections” featured handpicked videos by trustworthy parents in an attempt to fix its YouTube Kids, filtering sensitive content and providing a safer environment for kids.
What is the human role?
It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that all the heavily utilized machine learning tech companies have shown their interests in incorporating more of the human elements. As a big believer in the right mix between technology and humans, I personally agree that humans can never be completely nor solely replaced by AI. We are better at understanding humans.
“This kind of storytelling is something that algorithms will have little chance of replicating. “I think you need to have machine-driven stuff, just because the sets of information and media are so large. But then, people like people,” — says Michael Bhaskar, author of the book Curation: The Power of Selection in a World of Excess
The question would go back to basic on the issue of scaling up if we heavily rely on humans. That is why it will all be about humans and machines complementing each other, doing tasks that we are good at. Humans work as a brain to guide, to lead and to teach, handing over the dirty tasks to machines that are better at tasks that need time and accuracy going through lots and lots of data. And that how we best utilize technology as an assistant to humans.
