The portal flickers. This time, a vast archive loads before you—rows of past behaviors, datasets, and digital trails stretching across time. Welcome to the domain where both organisms and algorithms are shaped: the world of data.
Welcome to the Fifth Issue of the Ongoing Series
In behavior analysis, data is the compass. It guides treatment decisions, tracks progress, and helps us shape behavior with precision. In artificial intelligence, it plays an even more central role: Data isn’t just informative—it’s formative.
AI and machine learning systems are their data. They are structured by it, optimized relative to it, and constrained within its boundaries.
This week, we explore how AI “learns” from data through mechanisms that, while mathematically different, feel behaviorally familiar. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of how models are shaped by reinforcement-like feedback, what kinds of data they need, and how behavior analysts can spot—and shape—good data practices.
