Humans
behind AI
Tiffany Kwok
Partner, McKinsey
Tokyo, Japan
Tiffany Kwok
Partner, McKinsey
Tokyo, Japan
I have always loved probability since I was a child. I believe nothing is impossible, it's all about chance.
I’m a big fan of superhero movies. Iron Man is my favorite character—probably because he has genius-level intelligence, and he uses it to protect society. At university I trained to be a radiologist, driven by a belief that my career must have positive outcomes beyond myself. I now work with AI and big data, and I believe I can make an even bigger positive impact. In my school days, I used to have vivid dreams about solving really complicated equations. These days I use technology to solve problems in business. AI has the potential to transform the economy here in Japan. When we combine the talents of humans and AI—amazing things can happen.
Working with AI is like exercising for me—I never get tired of it.
I like to find patterns. I really fell in love with puzzle games when I was a child. Now I find patterns in data. At first, I just wanted to crunch the data. But then, when I joined McKinsey, I realized explaining the pattern is much more important than finding it.
A machine can find the pattern, but it won't tell you why it is the pattern and how to explain the pattern.
If you just put the data into the AI, it won't tell you much. But if you give AI the right hypothesis, it will give you a much better insight that can be really effective for the business. That’s why we need humans and AI.
I love math and it runs in my family. My older brother is a genius. He can solve complex equations in a matter of seconds. I have always loved probability since I was a child. I believe nothing is impossible, it's all about chance.
I grew up in Hong Kong but moved to Japan in my early 20s and, at first, I didn’t speak the language. I thought I would stay for two years and try to find a job. Luckily, I joined a bank and was there for three years before I joined McKinsey.
I started at McKinsey as a data scientist, working with huge data sets. Now I work mainly with consumer clients. I look at how to drive growth using pricing, personalization, and digital content marketing, as well as how to use data and AI to help the CEO make decisions.
People still don’t trust AI. They worry that if they don’t have it, they are behind the curve, but they still don’t implement it because they don't trust it. It just seems like a black box. So, I help the AI to be more transparent and explainable. It’s about reverse engineering so you can understand the reasoning behind the AI’s answer. I show that to the client. Then we do a test-and-learn phase, and when they see the sales go up, we scale it up. We help change the way they work. It needs to be agile, so we bring together cross-functional teams to drive growth at speed.
Work can be all-consuming, so I make sure I find balance and decompress by spending time with friends and my dog Chloe. We drive out of the city sometimes to go for a hike in the countryside around Chiba and Hakone. Hearing the wind in the leaves and the sound of the trees gently creaking helps me feel refreshed after the working week. I also like to hang out with my friends in Tokyo Bay, overlooking the Rainbow Bridge, just to relax.
I love superhero movies and I’m a fan of Iron Man because he uses his intelligence for good. Some AI can really help society to fight against the bad guys.
Growing up, I wanted to help society by supporting healthcare. My first degree was in radiology, using radiation to treat cancer patients. Now we see AI can increase accuracy of cancer diagnosis and even treatment. My dream would be to combine my passion for healthcare and data to increase accuracy and positive outcomes for patients through AI.
I have a strong can-do spirit. As a statistician, I love probability. I believe everything has a probability of happening and if I set a goal, even if people say it’s impossible, I still think there is a strong chance it will happen. You just have to try it, or you will never know.
Tiffany's photos were taken in Tokyo, Japan.
I help the AI to be more transparent and explainable. It’s about reverse engineering so you can understand the reasoning behind the AI’s answer.
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