The New Gold
It is no longer news that it’s been said that data is the new ‘Gold’. Data will rule the world. The future of the world is ‘data’. To this effect, a lot of data mining is already going on. Let’s take this trip together. What would a world totally controlled by data look like? A world with all its information, people, institutions, government parastatals, demographic statistics, health, political and general information, and what have you all sync-ed to a singular source look like.
Using my technologically-ignorant mind let me make an attempt at painting some scenarios:
Scenario 1
Could it be towards a singular control? I cannot help but imagine if the whole essence of data would one-day place power and control of the world in the hands of the unexpected or wrong people? Are we headed towards an era where the world would be run by tech giants? They deal in and possess important resources useful to humans. They are invaluable to human beings and some can no longer imagine living without them as they control already a sizable amount of personal data. We have heard and witnessed how data have elected and toppled governments through adverts or information circulated.
Imagine a world in which via data our schools, hospitals, airports, metro stations (trains and flights) all connected to a singular data management base. In the long haul, without proper management, data managers could form unforeseen villains with the emergence of algorithms that can solve as many problems as could face man. Are we unconsciously handing or surrendering power to data owners and miners? Again, let us imagine what will happen if one day we all woke up to the internet all turned off, electricity shut down, planes crashing, train collision, a complete breakdown of law and order.
Scenario 2
Again, imagine what would happen should the US automated missile defence system firing 3000 rounds of ammunition per minute in crazy and scary precision were to fall into the wrong hands. With the emergence of drone weaponry with the capability to fire with precision; though with the good intent to separate the bad guys from the good but should it fall into the hands of the bad guy, then what? An AI developed drone, self-flying with a processor that can reach a hundred times faster than a human having field cameras, practical sensors and facial recognition with the ability to carry several grams of explosives. With bang enough to crack a skull and destroy its contents.
The manufacturing intents are positive I believe but what happens should they fall into the wrong hands or person with wrong motives, I ask again? Imagine a world where weapons are allowed to make decisions? Considering there is gender bias, racial bias amongst other biases, the human bias of programmer could become AI bias and in a similar vein, a great possibility of human error becoming an algorithmic error. There is a danger if human errors could not be sieved from algorithms. I remember the story how ‘A defective robot causes the death of a Michigan Woman’. It is no gainsaying that coding errors could make things go wrong.
In my concluding thoughts, so important are data and so powerful are they that they cannot be ignored. The powers that be could selfishly want to take advantage of them in an attempt to control the world. It is therefore important that effective regulations and checks are put in place.
Scenario 3
With the increasing rise in false and fake news, let us imagine a world where fake and false news become the order of the day – judgement, important decisions and actions taken based on false fake news. Whatever news is wanted in circulation or believed by the populace just needs to be uploaded on social media via the use of ‘data’ and BOOM! that becomes the general belief and norm of the people. Imagine a world where people fall prey to misinformation and struggle to discern objectivity and truth amidst a myriad of lies. It beats my imagination what a world impacted by false news or misinformation would look like. The rate of invasion and quantity of fake news has come to be termed a ‘big data problem’. Why? It takes just minutes for worldwide webs to be infiltrated with fake news and made available to several billions of human. What would the state of the world look like in the nearest future considering the dynamics, worse and alarming rate at which fake news grows daily? Quoting Forbes.com (2017), the quantity of fake news is now reaching crises proportions and the problem is only getting worse.
