Bias Isn't Always Bad — Here's How It Can Protect You From Making Dangerous AI-Driven Decisions
Human bias, when shaped by values and informed by experience, can be a form of wisdom that protects us from making poor decisions in today's AI-driven world.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Key Takeaways
- Not all bias is bad. Human bias — shaped by lived experience and values — acts as a crucial filter that keeps us from being tricked by algorithms that look objective on the surface, but are actually just mirroring the world as it is, not how it should be.
- While AI excels at analyzing patterns and historical data, it lacks intuition, context and the ability to sense when something’s “off.”
- Of course, bias does have a dark side. But the answer isn’t to get rid of it completely. It’s to understand it, own it and sharpen it through experience, reflection and diversity of thought.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about bias, especially in relation to artificial intelligence. We’re told, almost like a warning label, that humans are inherently biased and that this is something we need to fix, remove or override. AI, we’re told, is the solution: neutral, data-driven, fair. And yes, it’s true — bias can lead to all sorts of problems.
But here’s something we don’t hear enough: Not all bias is bad. In fact, in some cases, human bias is exactly what protects us from making blind, dangerous decisions in a world run by machines.
Related: The Hidden Dangers of Using Generative AI in Your Business
Bias as a filter, not a flaw
As someone who’s spent years navigating markets, building ventures and watching technology evolve, I’ve come to appreciate the role human bias plays — not as a flaw, but as a filter. It’s what keeps us from being tricked by algorithms that may look objective on the surface, but are actually just mirroring the world as it is, not how it should be.
There’s a saying that stuck with me: “Nothing is as it appears to be_.”_ AI doesn’t understand that. It can only see what’s visible — data points, patterns, trends. It can match one thing to another based on what’s happened before. But it can’t feel. It can’t intuit. It doesn’t know when something’s off, even if the numbers look fine. That’s where human bias steps in.
What AI can’t see
Let me give you an example. Say you’re using AI to evaluate political or regulatory risk before launching a product in a new country. The algorithm will give you an analysis based on policies, past elections, economic indicators, etc. Sounds great, right? But here’s the thing: That’s just the surface.