What is the jagged AI frontier?
A working definition from MIT Sloan
jagged AI frontier (noun)
The nonintuitive strengths and weaknesses of AI performance relative to human performance, and how it is changing over time.
A study about the impact of AI on the productivity of highly skilled workers sheds new light on the possibilities and pitfalls of relying too much on technology and not enough on human intuition.
A team of researchers that included MIT Sloan’s Kate Kellogg found that when generative AI is used within the boundary of its capabilities, it can improve a worker’s performance by as much as 40% compared with workers who don’t use it. But when generative AI is used outside that boundary in an attempt to complete a task, worker performance drops by an average of 19 percentage points.
Navigating this jagged technological frontier takes skill and training. Because some AI-generated answers look credible even when they’re incorrect, developers could work on designing an interface that would help workers avoid falling into such traps. Kellogg also recommended that organizations have an onboarding phase so employees can get a sense of how and where AI works well and where it doesn’t, and receive performance feedback. And everyone should be embracing a culture of accountability. “Managers and workers need to collectively develop new expectations and work practices to ensure that any work done in collaboration with generative AI meets the values, goals, and standards of their key stakeholders,” Kellogg said.
How generative AI can boost highly skilled workers’ productivity
Working Definitions: Artificial Intelligence
MIT Sloan's Working Definitions explore the words and phrases behind emerging management ideas.
Leading the AI-Driven Organization
In person at MIT Sloan
Register Now
‘No One Works Here’ urges firms to tackle human bottlenecks with AI
In his new book, MIT Sloan School of Management’s Paul Cheek argues that companies lose competitive ground when they keep humans in the loop on decisions that AI can make more efficiently.
4 ways to navigate entrepreneurship in the age of AI
MIT Sloan’s Bill Aulet and Jenny Larios Berlin explore how founders can combine artificial intelligence with the principles of Disciplined Entrepreneurship to move from concept to market more quickly.
An MIT expert on which companies will succeed in the AI era
MIT Sloan’s Andrew McAfee said the future of tech-driven companies is young firms on the West Coast — and that Europe will continue to fall behind.
AI ethics and governance: Where will you draw the line?
Enterprises must address complex ethical issues surrounding AI or risk exposure to myriad financial, legal, and reputational risks. Here’s a framework to protect your organization.
Can AI’s climate benefits outweigh its costs?
The rising energy demands of AI and data centers threaten corporate net zero commitments and worsen climate change. But can AI also help develop climate solutions? MIT Sloan researchers investigate.
Three keys to building a semantic layer
A new research briefing explains how semantic layers make enterprise data more accessible and understandable by humans and machines.
How will AI automation hit — like a crashing wave or a rising tide?
AI performance is improving across many workplace tasks broadly, not in sudden shocks, new MIT research finds. That cadence gives companies and workers time to prepare for task-level displacements.
6 questions to guide your AI strategy
Few AI pilots scale successfully. Asking key questions about goals, governance, and culture can help them thrive.
Why AI-driven enterprises are the future of entrepreneurship
AIDEs have lower overhead, are extremely efficient at product development, require a smaller footprint, and provide increased ownership for founders, according to MIT Sloan’s Paul Cheek.
How organizations can capture value from digital colleagues
As AI systems become more capable, companies will need to think beyond individual tools and begin managing AI as a digital colleague — part of how teams, workflows, and business processes operate.