This past month I had the opportunity to participate in a few discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) with a group of business students at St Bonaventure University. As part of the discussions, we were struggling to make a clear distinction between some of the more traditional approaches to AI that have been influencing the world around us for years and this next wave of Generative AI that has currently captured the worlds imagination.

For many all forms of AI can seem like magic.

And it was just that, magic, that helped create some clarity for us.

Sometimes when breaking down complex concepts, it’s helpful tie them to something relatable. In this situation, that relatable thing was the world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

For those unfamiliar with Harry Potter (you clearly have busier holiday breaks than I do), there’s a magical school called Hogwarts where young witches and wizards are assigned to one of four houses—Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff (which is really fun to say out loud).

When first-year students arrive, a ceremony is held where the Sorting Hat is placed on their heads. The Sorting Hat is trained to examine a student’s characteristics, then, based on that input, assigns them to one of the four houses. For dramatic effect, it announces the house in front of the entire school, like, “Hufflepuff!”

Image generated by DALL-E

What’s important here is that the Sorting Hat has four possible outcomes, and it’s very good at determining which house a student belongs in. But here’s the catch: it can only choose from those four options. It can’t create a new house or invent something brand new. That’s exactly how traditional AI works—it sorts and predicts based on known data, but it can’t generate anything beyond the scope of what’s already there.

Now, hidden away in another part of Hogwarts is the Mirror of Erised—which, if you look closely, is “desire” spelled backward. The Mirror doesn’t just reflect what you look like—it shows you your deepest desires. The person standing in front of it doesn’t need to know any special spells. The mirror takes the vision of their ideal future and creates that vision for them, something that hadn’t existed before.

Image generated by DALL-E

This is the essence of Generative AI. Instead of simply analyzing what exists, it can take inputs and generate entirely new content, whether it’s a story, an image, or even a solution to a business problem. Just like the Mirror of Erised brings to life your deepest desires, Generative AI brings forth outputs that were previously only imagined.

Let’s bring this back to the real world. Take Netflix as an example. Netflix uses a traditional AI algorithm (a very very good one) to recommend shows and movies based on what you’ve watched in the past and what other users with similar tastes are watching. This is incredibly powerful, much like the Sorting Hat. But, like the Sorting Hat can only choose from four houses, Netflix’s AI can only recommend titles already in its library.

Now imagine if Generative AI came into play. It could take your five most-watched shows and generate a completely new pilot episode for a series that combines the best aspects of all five shows—creating your dream show. (that you'd likely skip work to binge watch) That’s the power of Generative AI: it generates something entirely new, based on your preferences and inputs.

Let’s look at another, more business-focused example. Traditional AI might predict that a customer is likely to leave a service—a critical insight for any company. But Generative AI could go further. It could create an entire outreach plan—customized emails, social media content, and even a targeted marketing campaign to keep that customer engaged.

There are countless use cases for Generative AI in areas like content creation, ideation, and collaboration. Whether it’s generating marketing materials, writing or summarizing reports, or drafting software code, the possibilities are endless.

At the end of the day, both the Sorting Hat and the Mirror of Erised play critical roles in their own right, just as traditional AI and Generative AI do in the business world. Knowing when to use each type of AI can make a significant difference in solving business challenges.

So, the next time you’re looking to tackle a project, ask yourself: "Do I need the Sorting Hat’s predictive power or the creative vision of the Mirror of Erised?" Whether you're sorting through data or creating something entirely new, AI has the potential to transform your world—just like magic.

Accio innovation!