The Odd Things AI Makes Me Think About

Curiosity No. 1: The End of the “Single Source of Truth” Era

For years, companies have chased the mythical single source of truth. One dataset. One version of the facts. One place where everything is clean, consistent, and blessed by the data governance gods.

But here’s the awkward reality: AI doesn’t need a single truth. It thrives on plural truths.

Large models are built on messy, conflicting, overlapping information. They don’t panic when two systems disagree – they reconcile, contextualise, and synthesise on the fly. And that’s exactly how the AI-native enterprise will operate.

A quick business example to make this real

Picture a classic Monday morning meeting: Finance says revenue is 10.2M. Sales says it’s 11.1M(“because pipeline counts if you believe hard enough”). Marketing says it’s 14M (“attribution is a journey”). The CEO says, “Why don’t we have a single source of truth.”

In the old world, everyone would spend the next two weeks arguing about whose CRM OR system OR report is “right.”

In the AI world, the system simply responds: “Finance is reporting booked revenue. Sales is including late-stage pipeline. Marketing is including projected uplift from campaigns. Here’s the reconciled view, and here’s what each team actually means.”

No drama. No spreadsheet diplomacy. No truth‑summits. Just contextual truth, delivered instantly.

Why this matters

• Truth becomes dynamic, not static.

• Context becomes the differentiator, not the constraint.

• Knowledge becomes a living layer, not a warehouse.

• Governance shifts from control to coherence.

The “single source of truth” wasn’t wrong – it was just a workaround for human limitations. AI doesn’t share those limitations.

But plural truths come with real challenges

Plural truths don’t mean “anything goes.” They demand stronger guardrails, clearer definitions, and a shared understanding of why different truths exist. Teams need to get comfortable with nuance, leaders need to tolerate ambiguity, and organisations need to invest in systems that can explain their reasoning – not just generate answers. Without that, plural truths can quickly turn into plural misunderstandings.

So, let me ask you now: can you handle the truths?

Did you like this post and are you interested in taming the AI Beast? Follow our Fluido AI expert – Greg Anderson, Didier Dessens, Oby Manyando and Boris Naumov. And if you’d like to continue the conversation, feel free to reach out to me. You can also read more about our AI initiatives here.

About the post Series:

“The Odd Things AI Makes Me Think About” is a collection of short, thought-provoking reflections on the stranger, overlooked, and sometimes uncomfortable edges of artificial intelligence. This series steps away from the usual AI “from doom to utopia” narratives, and instead explores the quirky, curious, and occasionally provocative questions that surface when humans and machines collide. Expect posts that challenge assumptions, spotlight unusual angles, and invite a different kind of attention-because the most interesting ideas usually live just outside the mainstream.