Podcast Introduction
The Filter Koffee Podcast is not an interview. It is a window into the minds of the most interesting people that the host has met - a peek into their craft, passions, and convictions. Mostly, it is a conversation - the kind that leaves you richer. The kind that only coffee can bring out.
Karthik Nagarajan likes his coffee strong, just like his conversations. This cryptographer turned researcher turned screen-writer turned marketer, sits down with creators, activists, business leaders, and the occasional neighbor for an unstructured chat.
Guest Introduction
As the global head of business development for American Express, Anurag Banerjee spent a lot of time trying to understand consumer behavior. In this episode, he speaks to Karthik about AI for Good, the ability for us to understand human behavior at scale through digital and social insights, and why Quilt.AI is his life's mission after mentoring and being an investor in numerous start-ups.
Quest for Clean Data
Human behavior is often irrational. Anurag explains this by citing the example of people desiring an appropriate credit card befitting their social and financial status. Even if it means getting a plastic card of a different color.
To get insights into human behavior, one needs access to high-quality data. The traditional way of research methodology including surveys and panel discussions is flawed. There are random biases at play. Participants often mask their real feelings by providing responses they feel would be socially acceptable.
Anurag reckons the move towards getting insightful data from digital footprint - whether it be browser cookies, search queries and social media behavior is a better and richer alternative.
Artificial Intelligence
Karthik considers AI to be apt for narrow use-cases like Chess Engines and doing repetitive work in plants. Anurag concurs and feels AI models are still in infancy. Training Sets will need to improve manifold to solve broader issues.
Anurag disagrees with the popular perception of AI being a job-eater. He draws an analogy with the automobile industry and the advent of social media marketing. In either case, the jobs were displaced but newer jobs were created.
Anurag’s AI venture tries to balance out non-profit endeavors with commercial projects. While talking to both profit and non-profit industry leaders, he realized that there was a large information asymmetry with the end-users and difficulty to bridge the same effectively.