DSS

My main focus of this assignment is the way that Decision Support Systems go beyond the ability of human intelligence. DSS softwares go beyond what we can do as humans, eliminating a lot of human error. The term “Decision Support System” is defined as “a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities” (1). Business has become so complex and technologically advanced that we can no longer rely on the abilities of a human to accomplish the tasks that a business needs to complete. Tasks need to be done faster, and even with great intelligence, humans cannot perform these tasks as quickly as a DSS software. Decision Support Systems involve the implementation of AI (Artificial Intelligence). The goal of AI is “to develop computer systems that exhibit intelligence or simulate the ability to think” (2). Since AI in computers has the ability to think, why not just simply use humans to do this thinking? The reasoning is that computer systems handle complexity better than humans (2). There is more that goes into decision making than meets the eye, and humans are born with the natural inclination to make mistakes throughout their lifetime. This is where AI and DSS softwares pick up our slack - they eliminate errors. “Aiding the deficiencies of human judgment and decision making has been a major focus of science throughout history” (3). It was interesting to read about how psychology is implemented into these AI and DSS softwares. One would think that only humans would have the ability to experience the phenomenon of psychology and cognitive psychology, but cognitive psychology is implemented into computer programs for complex decision making (3). The elimination of human error is exemplified in a couple of the models involved in DSS’s. A brief history of DSS’s explains two models: 1. Accounting and Financial models, and 2. Representational models (4). Both of these models are involved in calculating the consequences of possible actions taken by humans. These models can determine the affects that one single decision will have on a business, now or in the future. This eliminates human error because if the consequences are bad enough, the business will not make this decision. Without Decision Support Systems, the business would be forced to out on a limb and maybe never know what will happen as a result of the decision. In conclusion, DSS and AI softwares do things that a human cannot do alone. However, human traits are what make these softwares what they are. “A successful DSS is one that assists rather than replaces the human decision maker” (5). Both humans and computers have their strengths and weaknesses: “The strengths of human decision makers in the areas of conceptualization, intuition and creativity are the weaknesses of the computer. Conversely, the strengths of the computer in computation speed, parallelism, accuracy and the persistent storage of almost unlimited detailed information are human weaknesses” (5). A computer enhances the abilities of a human, and extends our intelligence with quicker speeds and accuracy. 1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_system 2.www.cs.siena.edu/.../Decision%20Support%20and%20AI%20(22).ppt 3.http://www.pitt.edu/~druzdzel/abstracts/dss.html 4.http://dssresources.com/history/dsshistory.html 5.http://www.cadrc.calpoly.edu/pdf/decision_brochure.pdf