Page 240 - Ray Dalio - Principles

has never experienced abstract thinking attempting to define
and replicate it.

Yet at the same time, the brain cannot compete with the
computer in many ways. Computers have much greater

“determination” than any person, as they will work 24/7 for
you. They can process vastly more information, and they can
do it much faster, more reliably, and more objectively than you
could ever hope to. They can bring millions of possibilities
that you never thought of to your attention. Perhaps most
important of all, they are immune to the biases and consensus-

driven thinking of crowds; they don’t care if what they see is
unpopular, and they never panic. During those terrible days
after 9/11, when the whole country was being whipsawed by
emotion, or the weeks between September 19 and October 10,
2008, when the Dow fell 3,600 points, there were times I felt
like hugging our computers. They kept their cool no matter
what.

This combination of man and machine is wonderful. The
process of man’s mind working with technology is what
elevates us—it’s what has taken us from an economy where
most people dig in the dirt to today’s Information Age. It’s for
that reason that people who have common sense, imagination,
and determination, who know what they value and what they
want, and who also use computers, math, and game theory, are

the best decision makers there are. At Bridgewater, we use our
systems much as a driver uses a GPS in a car: not to substitute
for our navigational abilities but to supplement them.

5.12 Be cautious about trusting AI

without having deep

understanding.

I worry about the dangers of AI in cases where users accept—
or, worse, act upon—the cause-effect relationships presumed
in algorithms produced by machine learning without

understanding them deeply.