(Big Data by BBVAtech. Shared Under CC BY 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)
Wow! Why Big Data is a Big Deal, was an eye opener into how data is collected and portrayed in the mainstream world. I had no idea that data is collected and put into an algorithm that can predict circumstances that may rise to affect our world. The video highlighted that data has been used to predict deadly outbreaks of diseases. However, if data and algorithms can predict occurrences, then why is that we can stop these diseases, killings, or attacks in our world? Furthermore, it is crazy to think that more data has been processed in the past two years than over the past 3,000 years. Such data has helped companies like Netflix and Amazon provide recommendations for purchases or shows to watch for their consumer (Shaw, 2014). This is crazy as sometimes these recommendations are actually what you are thinking but haven't told anyone. It is like these programs read your mind.. Personally, I do not want people to ever be able to read my mind as that is my privacy that I should always have.
On another note, technology has been able to save businesses and researchers money as it has cut down on the cost of products. For example, it took over a billion dollars to create the first full human genome sequence. However, now it only costs $1,000 and can be completed in 24 hours (Shaw, 2014). This is crazy to think how fast information can be disseminated to others for use.
References:
- Jonathan Shaw (2014). Why Big Data Is a Big Deal. Article Link
- PBS documentary. The Human Face of Big Data. Video Link
Hi! I actually did not get a chance to watch this video this week, so reading your post was very interesting! It encouraged me to click on the link and start watching it! I also had no idea that data is put into an algorithm to predict circumstances that may rise, crazy right? I look forward to reading more! Overall, I enjoyed your post and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteNice visual on your post, it was fun to see the quick facts around big data. I liked your insight about how some programs seem to read your mind;I guess this makes sense since our minds kind of function in the same way that an algorithm on big data would. This reminds me of the 'recommendation' tab on so many websites.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan! I think you did a really good job highlighting how big of a deal this is. Every point you made definitely made me think “wow!” and realize how much data has changed and how big of an impact it has on society. This makes the reader realize how important it is to educate themselves on this issue and truly think about what the rest of your post has to say and reflect on it! Finally, I think the question you asked about why we can’t stop disease and attacks on the world was interesting. Data can be so powerful if it can stop this and truly transform many of the things in the world. It makes me wonder if that data is just not being processed quick enough, or if they do not always have the data they need. You could consider looking into if this is the case!
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI also read this article and was amazed by it. It is really fascinating that we can use data to predict things like deadly outbreaks. I noticed that you mentioned concern about why we are unable to stop these diseases or attacks even though we are able to predict them. This is a question that I also developed after reading this article. I think that even though we may have not mastered it yet, we are on the right track to being able to do these things. As long as data is used in an ethical way, we can make crazy improvements in our world. I do agree though that we need to be cautious because privacy is important and all of this data collection could lead to violations of privacy.