In Super Crunchers, Yale law and management professor Ian Ayres explains how human intuition and flair are easily beaten by computers. The sheer quantity of data and the computer power now available make it possible for automated processes to surpass human experts in fields as diverse as rating wines, writing film dialogue and choosing titles for books. Indeed, Ayres originally intended to call his book “The end of intuition”. He changed his mind after a Google AdWords campaign which randomly chose which of two advertisements for the book to display: “Super Crunchers” garnered 63% more clicks than his original choice. He tells of credit card companies that are using similar randomised trials to see which combination of offers and advertising make for the most successful mailshots.
Sources
The Economist, Sept. 15th 2007, p. 103
