What "Cheap Prediction" Means for Enterprise

"Many organizations, Gans suggests, resemble public airports - full of people waiting for phones to ring, managing buffers, absorbing uncertainty."

"As AI makes prediction cheap, this middle-management friction layer flattens."

"The "hidden secret," as Josh Tyson notes, is that the people selecting AI systems to automate work are essentially "selecting their usurper.""

Many organizations function like public airports, with numerous employees waiting for signals, managing buffers, and absorbing uncertainty. Middle-management exists to coordinate, delay decisions, and insulate operations when predictions are costly. As AI reduces the cost and increases the accuracy of prediction, the buffering and coordination roles become less necessary, flattening the middle-management friction layer. Decision-makers who choose and deploy AI systems that automate forecasting and routine coordination risk automating the roles that currently justify their positions, effectively selecting technologies that can replace them.

Read at UX Magazine