Jun Cowan: “Using a simple geological example, I argue that geologists operate similarly to Columbo, a 1970s TV detective—inferring, continuously thinking, and asking tangential and often seemingly irrelevant and stupid questions about a clue that doesn’t quite fit into the whole picture. An AI machine, not even the powerful IBM Watson, would ask these questions because one or two clues are deemed statistical outliers. No amount of computer processing power, machine learning, or AI can fill the boots and brains of geologists trained in appropriate relevant skills who interpret disconnected data. At least, not in the foreseeable future.” Read more