Using Generative AI to Unlock Probabilistic Products

Interesting idea ....

Using Generative AI to Unlock Probabilistic Products    in a16z  in Andreessen 

by Anish Acharya

Enterprise & SaaS  fintech  product management  Generative AI

One remarkable thing about the invention of generative AI is that it’s one of the first examples of a probabilistic computer that produces outputs that are varied and non-deterministic. Some, who expect these systems to behave like traditional systems, have complained about hallucinations—however, these complaints miss the point. A dispersion of outputs (including hallucinations) is exactly what’s so special here. In fact, they unlock a whole new category of product design: probabilistic products.

By probabilistic products, we mean products with non-deterministic and often emergent attributes. Social networks are an example of probabilistic products. The emergent behaviors that appear on these networks typically cannot be predicted but, instead, can simply be observed. One way to think about this is to organize product categories, or a product’s use cases, into three groups: '

1 Those that are uniquely enabled by or benefit from the probabilistic nature of the platform

2 Those that are tolerant of the probabilistic nature of the platform

3 Those that are intolerant of the probabilistic nature of the platform  .... '