Seeking Intelligent Life By Chris McClure | Contributing Editor
For the manager, the list of questions might need to be extensive. Some questions might be: » What is the optimum
“THE ABILITY TO SPEAK does not make you intel- ligent.” – Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace . “Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowl- edge and skills.” – The Oxford Dictionary According to The Foundation for Critical Thinking, ”Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.” I fear there are very few who practice critical thinking. Most people think purely from their personal and societal pre-conditioning, which limits their ability to discover or embrace new ideas. If you want to change your organization, your industry or even a single process, there is value in bringing in those with a completely different mindset and train- ing to suggest possible ways in which to accomplish your goals. We are beginning to see some embrace this concept with the adoption of new technologies, which seemed to dominate this year’s Cattle Industry Con- vention and NCBA Trade Show. Throughout the trade show there were many new startup companies seeking to gain traction with cattle producers for new products or service offerings. One of the more prominent and perhaps promising technologies is Artificial Intelligence (AI). We are seeing the application of AI in many ways – particularly in data analytics. I would argue that what we are seeing is not truly AI but advanced machine learning. In my opin- ion, AI requires creativity, whereas machine learning is more about analyzing,
routing for feeding the cattle that minimizes cost – time, employee, fuel, etc.? » What are the most important metrics to evaluate optimum efficiency of the various departments within my scope of responsibility? » How do I balance the efficiency of the yard with the need to maximize the return to the cattle feeder? If we jump to a cow-calf operation, the list would probably be more like: » Given the cost of supplements, what is the optimum feeding rate given that conception rates vary with forage availability and the amount of supplements? » Given the current market price structure for calves and the impact of drought on breed-back percent- ages – a function of body condition – what is the optimum weaning weight to maximize return to my operation? » Given the relationship between residual forage and root growth, what is the optimum time to pull cows off a given pasture to maximize return to the available resources? These are just
sample questions, and some of them probably aren’t all that good, but the point is, collect- ing, analyzing and utilizing data to
relating and reorganizing existing data in new and unique ways.
INTELLIGENCE REQUIRES THE ABILITY TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.
In addition, referring to the definition quoted above, intelligence requires application of knowledge or skills. Intelligence requires the ability to ask the right ques- tions. We can analyze, parse and reassemble data all day long, but if we are not finding answers to the correct questions, it is an exercise in futility. What are the correct questions to ask? That depends on your needs, which are directly related to your function. If you operate a steam flaker, the question might be, “What is the correct roller pressure to achieve optimum digestibility of the corn I am flaking?” If you are driving a feed truck, it might be,“What is the optimum speed for dispensing the exact amount of ra- tion called for given the rate of discharge and the length of the bunk?”
make better decisions all comes back to the ability to ask the right questions. Machine learning, or even AI, is not really intelligence. It is necessary for humans to think critically so that the right questions can be formulated that will “inform” the various data models being devel- oped. Applying these new tools to the cattle industry may require investment in outside thinking that will shake us from our entrenched views of the world. We need first to understand how these tools work – no, you don’t need to be a programmer, but you need a basic understanding of the concepts. Then we need to learn how to ask the correct kinds of questions – those that these tools are designed to answer. It’s going to be interesting.
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