We have all seen those cute pictures of a duckling that thinks the family dog is its mother. It happens because the dog was the first moving thing the duckling saw at birth, so it assumes the dog is its caregiver.

When it comes to data, we humans often act like ducklings.

There’s a well-known cognitive bias called the “Anchoring effect” which can lead to bad predictions and/or decisions. The basic premise is that the first piece of data you hear can “anchor” you to that number. So a $300 mug is exorbitant but a  $1000 mug discounted to $300 is a steal.

This effect / bias is why I am mindful of which information I take in. If you have the wrong starting point, you’ll make worse decisions as a result. Like buying a $300 mug.

In daily life I try to dodge the anchoring effect by asking myself what something would be worth to me before I look at the price tag. Sometimes you need to adjust your opinion after looking at the tag, but at least it’s a conscious decision.

I take the same approach when using AI. If I’m deciding how to do something, I come up with my initial plan first. Then I can choose to ask an AI model what it would do.