# When to Trust Robots with Decisions, and When Not To

1 Opinion May 17, 2016 Harvard Business Review ![](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_036508.jpg?itok=3Jmh6YKp) By Vasant Dhar > As these “robots” become a bigger part of our lives, we don’t have any framework for evaluating which decisions we should be comfortable delegating to algorithms and which ones humans should retain.

Smarter and more adaptive machines are rapidly becoming as much a part of our lives as the internet, and more of our decisions are being handed over to intelligent algorithms that learn from ever-increasing volumes and varieties of data.

As these “robots” become a bigger part of our lives, we don’t have any framework for evaluating which decisions we should be comfortable delegating to algorithms and which ones humans should retain. That’s surprising, given the high stakes involved.

I propose a risk-oriented framework for deciding when and how to allocate decision problems between humans and machine-based decision makers. I’ve developed this framework based on the experiences that my collaborators and I have had implementing prediction systems over the last 25 years in domains like finance, healthcare, education, and sports.

Read the full article as published in [Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2016/05/when-to-trust-robots-with-decisions-and-when-not-to).

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*Vasant Dhar is a Professor of Information Systems.*## More Opinions by Vasant Dhar

- [Can AI Help Tame Religious Extremism?](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/can-ai-help-tame-religious-extremism)
- [DOGE is Using AI the Wrong Way.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/doge-using-ai-wrong-way)
- [The Paradigm Shifts in Artificial Intelligence.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/paradigm-shifts-artificial-intelligence)
- [Why It’s Time to Safeguard Against AI Liability.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/why-its-time-safeguard-against-ai-liability)
- [SVB Was a Hedge Fund in Disguise – And the Banking Crisis is an Overreaction.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/svb-was-hedge-fund-disguise-and-banking-crisis-overreaction)