Feb 18, 2022
As a lover of questions, I get
asked a lot of things on all sorts of topics. One that comes up
often is this idea about machine learning, AI, big data, data
analytics, and how it combines with the behavioral sciences. Is
there an overlap or are they competing? How can they work
together?
Around the same time as I was
prepping to be part of a debate at the Insights Association’s
CONVERGE conference on a similar topic, I had my conversation and
interview with Manuj Aggarwal. He went from making $2/day to the
boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies as a business mentor. He now
has four patents, two published books, and more than 180K students
across the globe. He has worked with multiple businesses including
Microsoft, Pearson, IBM, and many others. He even developed an
AI-based system to help students avoid dropping out of degree
programs that were praised and mentioned by Barack Obama and Bill
Gates. He is the host of the Bootstrapping Your Dreams
podcast, where I was honored to be
a guest recently and I am delighted to have him with me here on the
show to talk about the value of AI and how it can overlap with
behavioral science. Listen in as we discuss all about combining AI
with behavioral science. You don’t want to miss the many great
insights!
Show Notes:
- [00:08] I'm delighted to
introduce you to Manuj Aggarwal to discuss the opportunity of
combining AI with behavioral science.
- [01:07] In December 2021 I
(Melina) had the honor of being part of a debate put on at the
Insights Association's CONVERGE conference where my team was
arguing that "When it comes to capturing consumer insights, AI is
never going to work."
- [03:59] Manuj shares about
himself and the work that he does.
- [06:42] We are all experts in
something and we are always trying to improve
ourselves.
- [07:17] Technology moves at a
very rapid pace.
- [10:18] Blockchain can
decentralize and negotiate that trust between us as a technology;
we don’t need the bank or any third party. Instead, we can put our
promise on a blockchain, and when that promise is fulfilled the
technology is going to complete that transaction.
- [11:35] Manuj shares two of his
favorite projects. The first project was a mining project they did
with UPS.
- [13:27] In the second project
they applied behavioral science and AI with universities to keep
students from dropping out of their degree programs after the first
year. The system they created was talked about and supported by
Barack Obama and Bill Gates. (Awesome!)
- [15:47] It is about
understanding what people are thinking and what the reference point
is that they have in their mind to get that
concept.
- [16:20] We need to find out the
objective and work backward.
- [18:38] Monitoring the data and
enhancing the models in real-time lets things get even more
accurate.
- [20:10] Instead of focusing on
the problem you think exists, they start by asking, “What are the
results you are looking for?’
- [21:15] Figure out what the
result is that you are looking for and then work backward on the
root cause.
- [23:50] There are so many
common problems that people are having. Scaling happens
gradually.
- [25:46] There has never been a
greater time than this to create a globally scalable company or
solution.
- [26:34] At the fundamental
level when we break open AI it is actually a network of
networks.
- [28:33] You have to clean the
data and you have to continuously do many experiments to fine-tune
your data.
- [30:09] You don’t have to
become an AI expert to apply it.
- [32:12] As a business owner or
individual, you need to look for repeated patterns in real life and
that is where AI can be really helpful to optimize a
business.
- [33:03] Not sure where to
start? Look at some repeated patterns where something happens
consecutively three times.
- [35:41] 95% of our decisions
are made by our subconscious mind.
- [36:44] Mediation allows you to
connect with other human beings at a much more meaningful
level.
- [38:08] Mediation is really
about unplugging and doing something that you would do any day of
the week for the sake of having fun.
- [41:34] The script needs to be
flipped around. First, we need to feel fulfilled and happy and
clear off all these negative emotions which then leads to amazing
opportunities. (Melina calls this “calming the elephant”
often)
- [43:46] It is all about having
conversations, building connections, and
relationships.
- [45:08] Nobody cares how much
you know until they know how much you care.
- [46:17] Melina shares her
closing thoughts.
- [49:05] If you enjoy the
experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it?
That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with
a friend (or 10!)
Thanks for listening. Don’t
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what you heard, please leave a
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and share what you liked about the
show.
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