Big Data. Big Deception.

Big DataBig Data. It has become a household word. Some are excited by it. Some dread it. Some feel that it invades their privacy, as though privacy were not the preserve of the War Councils of nations, or in corporate planning rooms, or in the homes of people. What comes to your mind when you see the expression “Big Data”? I’ll tell you what comes to my mind – Big Deception!

How can I say that? Doesn’t Big Data allow us to track consumer behaviour, discern patterns, foresee trends and forecast wants that consumers don’t even know they have yet? Can’t Big Data foresee jobs down the road that we don’t know exist yet? Isn’t Big Data being used to give the next generation the proper schooling about what’s around the bend?

I say yes. Yes if the people who handle Big Data are able to discern the thoughts and intents of all the huge numbers of hearts involved. Yes if Big Data is able to interpret all that collated, analyzed and synthesized random bits of information. Yes if next-generation computing devices can surpass the human brain in terms of computing power. Which is quite a fantastic claim, since we haven’t even begun to understand how the physical human brain works.

If those yeses aren’t met, it’s simply called deception.

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