What is intelligent choice architecture?

intelligent choice architecture (noun)

A dynamic system that combines generative and predictive AI capabilities to create, refine, prioritize, and present choices with and for human decision makers.

In corporate decision-making, “decision rights” refers to the formal authority and responsibility given to specific individuals or groups to make particular types of decisions within an organization.

Now, leading organizations are presenting improved choices to these groups by tapping into the power of both predictive and generative artificial intelligence.

Writing in MIT Sloan Management Review, researchers David Kiron and Michael Schrage describe the emergence of intelligent choice architectures — AI systems that proactively participate in structuring and shaping strategic decisions.

Drawing on interviews with senior leaders in six major industry groups, the researchers determined that the power of ICAs lies in their ability to actively learn from outcomes, seek information, and alter the options available to decision makers.

By combining generative and predictive AI capabilities, ICAs are able to transcend the capabilities of conventional recommendation engines — articulating and explaining trade-offs, surfacing hidden opportunities, and learning from outcomes to refine future choice sets.

None of that renders human judgment marginal. “As ICA agents take on the heavy lifting of data analysis, pattern recognition, and optimization, they free their human counterparts and collaborators to focus on higher-order challenges,” the authors write.

The Great Power Shift: How Intelligent Choice Architectures Rewrite Decision Rights