Can AI Solve the Problems That Really Matter?

Chris Sodaquist, welcome back to Leading People.

Thank you, Gerry.

It's a pleasure to be back.

So the world has changed quite a bit since we last spoke in 2021.

And you've recently published some excellent papers on systems thinking and what you call systemic intelligence.

And you've also highlighted some of the benefits and challenges of using AI.

particularly with that systems thinking frame around it.

But before we get into that, and that's what we're going to really get into today, before we get into that, please tell my listeners a bit about yourself and how you got to being an expert on systems and systems thinking and developing what you call SysIQ.

Okay.

Thanks, Jerry.

So without boring too much here, I think the history of this makes some sense.

So when I was in college, I was getting a combined degree in mathematics, applied mathematics, and social systems.

And in particular, I was interested in international relations.

When I found out and discovered this concept of groupthink, and how we had a group of individuals in the government here who could be thought of as some of the smartest in the world would actually create the Bay of Pigs fiasco, which we have here.

And then that same group of people could get together and make decisions around the Cuban Missile Crisis and solve it.

What I really wanted to figure out was how can we take a group of smart people, put them together, and create decisions that are actually positive, beneficial, and systemic in nature.

And so ever since then, I've been kind of in pursuit of doing that.

So I've been a statistician.

I worked for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing here in the United States, which is the government manufacturing arm.

It's an interesting institution because it was both manufacturing and a government organization.

And that place produces money.

They didn't let me keep any of it.

So that was one of the reasons I left.

But what they do is, you know, a process that's a manufacturing line.

So as a statistician, I was trying to solve problems there.