People are good at picking out the right predictor variables … People are bad at integrating information from diverse and incomparable sources.
That is a beautiful summary sentence, incidentally, and I am taking it with me as a shorthand “handle” for this whole idea.
I find it works well as a surface-level counter for the (alas, still inappropriately compelling) idea that a dumb algorithm can’t get more accurate results than a smart observer.
Another possible metaphor is the pocket calculator.
It can find a number for any expression you can put into it, and in most cases it can do it way faster and more accurately than a human could. However, that doesn’t make it a replacement for a human. An intelligent agent like a human is still needed for the crucial part of figuring out what expression would be meaningful to put into it.
That is a beautiful summary sentence, incidentally, and I am taking it with me as a shorthand “handle” for this whole idea.
I find it works well as a surface-level counter for the (alas, still inappropriately compelling) idea that a dumb algorithm can’t get more accurate results than a smart observer.
Another possible metaphor is the pocket calculator.
It can find a number for any expression you can put into it, and in most cases it can do it way faster and more accurately than a human could. However, that doesn’t make it a replacement for a human. An intelligent agent like a human is still needed for the crucial part of figuring out what expression would be meaningful to put into it.
That is a very helpful metaphor for wrapping my head around both the advantages and limitations of SPR, thank you! :)