Data is ubiquitous, but its overwhelming percentage is unfit for consumption. Data is rendered usable by analytics and still bad uses of data have dominated the good ones. But data can do a lot of good. There should be good data policy.
The quantum of data generation is breath taking. Massive amount of data produced is either voluntary or involuntary, and mostly involuntary. Involuntary data is generated because of the connectivity to internet of a wide variety of devices we use.
Life exists not in the edges at O or 1, but in the continuum in between. This is true for data also. Between voluntary and involuntary data generation, there is an entire host of in between data capturing practices. Online purchases generate voluminous data every second about consumer preferences. Portals on internet allow us access if we disclose personal information. Users are compelled to check boxes, without reading the fine print. Informed consent is thus an oxymoron.
The economist calls data the world’s most valuable resource, and it has replaced oil. Most of the data is created recently and is almost dark and untouched.
One zettabyte is approximately equal to a thousand exabytes, a billion terabytes or a trillion gigabytes. According to IDC, it is estimated 12 zettabytes of data were generated in 2015. Only O.05 percent of this was analysed. By 2020 we will produce 47 zettabytes of data. Storage was expensive a few years ago but will be unlimited and free in the next few years.
Combine this data overload with AI. It is both beneficial and ruinous. AI has been with us since 1956, but has become hottest now becoz of Big Data and our capacity to store it. AI can be applied to diverse fields. In combination, data and AI, produce a whole that is a greater than its individual parts.
Watershed moment for AI. IBM’s Deep Blue beat Garvy Kasparov, the Greatest of all time (GOAT).
The rise and fall of AI will depend on how the underlying integrity of data is maintained. CA example is a recent case.
ML and AI-based content guidance system are being created to target individuals based on their behaviour and psychographic profile.
Consumer groups are calling for greater online protection and right to privacy.
Technologies are likely to diffuse and mature. AI will be of help for new drugs, spawning new businesses, quickening deliveries and making industries efficient.
The whole edifice is to built upon trust. Innovation is unlikely to thrive in an atmosphere of doubt and suspicion.
A data scientist teases actionable insights out of gigabytes of data.
There is enormous value in data processing and analysis. Data scientists are modern day superheroes.
Data science is data-driven science. It interprets data for the purpose of decision making.