What a topic to start out with, right? Stick with me on this one. Having worked in Information Technology (IT) for 30+ years gives me a bit of a unique perspective on this subject. However, spoiler alert, this isn’t going to be the “Gung Ho!” message that you would expect from someone who worked in IT for most of their career. I try to be honest in my analysis of things and call it the way I see it. With that being said, this is my honest assessment of the latest “thing” in IT that will become a part of everyone’s day to day life in the not too distance future. Since this website is about wine, lets talk about how this can have an effect or impact our enjoyment of said beverage. Shall we begin?
What is Artificial Intelligence(AI)?
Before we can talk about AI we should understand what it is and what it is not. In simple terms, AI is a term used to describe machines and/or computers that are developed that can perform tasks with certain human-like traits like learning, reasoning, problem solving and even creativity. These machines also retain computer specific traits you would expect them to have like processing speed, memory, inexhaustibility, and accuracy. You can generally think of AI as the best of both humans and computers. Note that this is a VERY general and loose description of AI and not intended to include some of the deeper philosophical questions or issues of what would be consider the “best” of both worlds. You could literally write a book diving into these questions/issues. I am keeping it simple for now.
There is no doubt that AI has become good in the last 3-5 years. Very good in fact and AI is actively being used today in everything from self-driving cars to virtual assistants, chatbots, and phone helpdesk operators. The list is growing rapidly and yes, there are even apps you can download today that claim to use AI to help you pick wines that you like. AI is everywhere!
Here are three things that are true today about artificial intelligence:
AI Isn’t Going Away
Pandora’s Box has been opened. Whether you like it or not, it isn’t going away. It is here to stay.
AI Will Continue To Get Better
There are billions of dollars being poured into this technology right now. Possibly even trillions of dollars when you consider all of the governments that are also investing into the research and development of AI. The speed at which the technology is improving is impressive and this will only increase as the technology gets better.
AI Isn’t Perfect
You probably didn’t expect to see this one in the list but it is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that should be discussed and understood. This statement could also be expanded to include “…nor should it expected to be perfect”. When you are trying to create a machine with “certain human-like traits”, you also are going to get the dirty laundry that comes with us humans. We are not perfect beings! We are flawed, corruptible, evil, emotional, and sometimes just plain wrong in our options, beliefs, etc.. I don’t know how you expect to make something “human-like” and avoid these traits. They are either going to be introduced through human influence (if the machine is not truly “thinking” on its own) or through the same flawed thought processes we have that made us imperfect. To support this claim, I will offer up two examples. First, there is plenty of recent news that documents bias that has been discovered in many of the leading AI models. This bias was so obvious and damaging to the reputation/trust of AI that Google publicly apologized and temporarily took down their AI model. This is a real and genuine problem that will continue to plague the industry. The second issue is just simple accuracy issues and this is something you can check yourself. For example, I recently had a nice discussion with one of the leading AI models online. It was both fun and interesting but I quickly questioned everything I was being told when I asked it to tell me about a company that I owned. It provided me all kinds of information about my company including that it was owned by two people I never heard of before. To this day, I have no idea where it got the information but clearly it was wrong.
What Does All of This Have To Do With Wine?
Great question! As stated earlier, AI has already started to work its way into the wine industry through various apps that are available now for you to download and use. It will also continue to work its way into the industry as people and businesses look for ways to make it useful, reduce costs, improve quality, etc.. Remember, AI isn’t going away. So we, as consumers, have to make a decision. What level do we want AI to be involved in the wines that we purchase and enjoy? Clearly there are going to be some uses of AI that are beneficial to society and, quite frankly, there are most definitely going to be some uses that are not. Wine is not a bunch of numbers that AI would do well at processing while it looks for trends or patterns. Wine, or at least the process of making it, is both science and art. The act of enjoying wine is neither science or art; it is just human nature. To help question what we, as consumers of wine, are comfortable with regarding AI’s involvement in the industry, consider the following questions (some of which are hypothetical):
Would the Mona-Lisa be at the Louvre if it was generated by AI?
This is a valid question. The AIs that are available today could generate something that far surpasses the greatest human paintings ever created. Would you pay to go see something like this in a museum? What if the Statue of David was 3D printed by an AI? Would we, as society, find this as beautiful? Or is part of the beauty knowing that it was created through the skilled hands of a gifted individual who spent their life working to perfect their skill. Is the process of making wine any different than this?
What if an AI was able to mix a bunch of chemicals together and make the perfect wine?
Another valid question. What if an AI was to determine that all it needed was a bunch of chemicals that it was going to mix together and chemically create the perfect wine. Arguably it would contain the same compounds and chemically be the same as a traditional glass of wine. You wouldn’t even need to grow the grapes at this point as the AI can synthesize the final product through a chemical process. The AI would argue that this would also free up valuable farm land that could be used to grow food for feeding people. Would you want this wine? Would you drink it?
What if AI was able to make every wine a perfect 100 point bottle?
Would this be a good thing? Is it a good thing trying different wines of varying levels of quality or would it be better to only make 100 point bottles of wine? Would this be interesting over the long-term or would this ruin wine? Should a computer (or machine) even make wine or would this be like the AI generated Mona Lisa?
Do you want a computer telling you what you should like?
Wine is supposed to be a social drink intended for you to enjoy with others. Part of this enjoyment is discussing what you like or dislike about the glass you have in front of you. Even if you are at a restaurant and just discussing wine or pairings with their Sommelier; you are still being social about it. This is one of the great joys of wine that I feel would be destroyed if everyone just loaded an app to see what they should like versus trying wine and talking about it.
These four questions are obviously extreme cases and, for some of them, are assuming the way things might be in the future. That being the case, these are all legitimate questions to ask now while the role of AI in our lives is being formed. What about less extreme questions? Are there reasonable ways that AI can benefit the wine industry? Probably…
Like a Good Glass of Wine, It Is All About Balance…
This is true with most things in life. Most issues are not binary or black-and-white. There are a million shades of gray and the important thing is to find the right balance. I believe that AI will be able to provide benefits to most things and this includes wine. If it is left unchecked, however, I believe it will ruin this wonderful social beverage that has been a part of humanity for thousands of years.
What About the Future?
The free-market will, in some respect, manage the future role of AI in the wine industry. If someone eventually makes a fully AI generated bottle of wine and nobody buys it, you can almost guarantee that the industry won’t sway towards that direction. Articles like this, and countless others that are online to review and discuss this topic, are also going to help keep the discussion active so that people are able to make informed and well thought out decisions about how they want their wine. So keep reading and thinking about this subject and lets watch and see how this ultimately plays out. Until then, I propose that you open a bottle of good old fashioned human made wine and enjoy it with your friends while you discuss what role you think AI should play in your lives. It is good to talk about things!
