Business, Tech, Consulting, Analytics

  Here's a question that might seem purely theoretical at first: Is mathematics discovered or invented? While it may sound like the kind of abstract puzzle that leads nowhere useful, this question has fascinating implications for our technological future. As we push the boundaries of artificial intelligence and algorithmic innovation, the nature of mathematics itself could shape what's possible.  Consider the implications of each possibility. If mathematics is discovered—if it exists independently of human minds, waiting to be uncovered like buried treasure—then there's a finite amount of it in the universe. Just as we might eventually exhaust Earth's oil reserves, we could theoretically reach a point where we've uncovered all the mathematical truths that exist. It's a sobering thought: a mathematical peak, beyond which no new foundations can be laid.  But what if mathematics is invented—a product of human creativity and intellectual exploration? This would ...

  Nobody wants to be called “a jack of all trades, a master of none.” But perhaps AI turns that old saw on its head. Here’s an example to show how AI has changed how we approach learning and skill acquisition. I spent the last few years learning the R statistical/programming language and used it for occasional analytics projects. With the dramatic rise in machine learning algorithms, Python seems to have become table stakes for anyone doing serious analytics. So here we go again … another stinkin’ language to learn. But to my surprise -- I only needed a day or so to learn what I need. I have friends, Mr. Chat, Ms. Perplexity, and Dr. Claude, who sit on the edge of their virtual seats, just waiting for me to give them work. Why learn loops, advanced charts and graphs, statistics, and all the rest when AI will do the work for me? Sure, they make mistakes but even then, I can feed the error messages back to them and wind up with some slick code on the other end. So, a day’s worth of...

Last week I gave an all-day lecture to accounting/internal audit students at Louisiana State University. The topic was AI. It was more discussion and conversation than lecture; no one in the room, including me, had any idea what’s really going to happen in the next five years. Note: the students are bright; I’m borrowing a few of their ideas here.  As we talked about near term AI related work/life changes – self coding computers, legal contract reviews, push button financial analysis, big pharma type discoveries – I thought of the TV show A Gentleman in Moscow , portraying a fictional Count Rostov, imprisoned for life in a hotel after the Russian revolution. As an aristocrat, he is out of favor with the commissars; a modestly revolutionary poem he wrote earlier saved him from execution.  In his new world, nearly everything was turned upside down – culture, technology, learning, human relations. His choice: adapt or die.   The students probably aren’t going to be thre...