In a world full of expanding and infinite information, pretty much everything can be an intelligence failure.
Somebody, somewhere should have known better.
But as long as there are humans, there will be intelligence failures.
Artificial intelligence is not going to solve intelligence failures either. Throwing algorithms at problems is not a magic solution to complicated problems. Using algorithms to figure out consumer behavior is one thing. It is easier to interpret signals when they are being telegraphed by mouse clicks and search terms.
When information is infinite, there is no way to know it all.
But even knowing where to look and how to learn is not sufficient. All information is subject to human error.
Learning from experience is usually very effective, but even that is flawed as situations continually change. On the surface things may appear similar, but the lessons from prior experiences have only limited applicability.
Even past mistakes don’t translate directly to wisdom.
Intelligence failure happens all the time and they are particularly easy to see after the fact. Intelligence successes are also common, but they are often taken for granted. They are rarely noticed or celebrated, but a lot of things have to go right for an intelligence success.
The feeling that better information systems will lead to better decisions downstream puts a lot of faith into the inputs and the interpretation of the outputs.
