Can AI Really Make Decisions?

What is it about?

AI is great at spotting patterns in data—like predicting what movie you’ll like or which route has less traffic. But can it actually make tough, forward-looking decisions the way humans do? This article says no. The authors explain that while AI runs on past data, human decisions often involve doing something new—something that hasn’t been tried or measured yet. Think of Airbnb: there was no data to prove it would work. But its founders imagined a new future, tested their ideas, and created new data along the way. That kind of leap—reasoning beyond the data and experimenting—is something AI still can’t do.

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Photo by Drew Dizzy Graham on Unsplash

Photo by Drew Dizzy Graham on Unsplash

Why is it important?

There’s a lot of buzz about AI replacing human decision makers. But this article explains why that’s a big overstatement. When the future is uncertain and the data doesn’t yet exist, human judgment—not machine prediction—is what drives real breakthroughs. If we confuse prediction with decision making, we risk missing out on innovation, strategy, and the messy, creative thinking that humans are uniquely good at. In short: AI can help, but it can’t replace us where it really counts.

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