6/13/13

Big data has to show that its not like Big Brother - FT.com
Bycontinuingtousethissiteyouconsenttotheuseofcookiesonyourdeviceasdescribedinourcookiepolicyunlessyouhavedisabledthem.You canchangeyourcookiesettingsatanytimebutpartsofoursitewillnotfunctioncorrectlywithoutthem.

ft.com>comment>

Lastupdated:June12,20137:15pm

BigdatahastoshowthatitsnotlikeBigBrother
ByJohnGapper

Wedonotknowyetwhatthisnewtechnologyofdataanalysisandartificialintelligencemeans

IngramPinn

alesofGeorgeOrwellsNineteenEightyFourhaverisensinceEdwardSnowdenrevealedhowtheNationalSecurityAgencyof theUSgainsaccesstotelephonerecordsanddatafromtechnologycompanies.Sofar,ifpeopledonotexactlyloveBigBrother, theyarepreparedtoacceptsomeinvasionoftheirprivacyinreturnforsecurity. Whataboutbigdata?Companiesthatholdrapidlyexpandingamountsofpersonalinformationareusingnewkindsofdataanalysis andartificialintelligencetoshapeproductsandservices,andtopredictwhatcustomerswillwant.LarryPage,Googleschief executive,describeshisidealformoftechnologyasareallysmartassistantdoingthingsforyousoyoudonthavetothinkaboutit. ThevisionoflivinginavirtualDowntonAbbey,withacomputertoplanyourday,suggestthebestroutetotravel,thefilmsyou mightwanttowatchandthebestflighttocatcheventobookitforyouhasanallure.Weareallpressedfortimeandwantan easylife.Insteadofbeingbombardedwithinformationandforcedtochoose,itsnicetogetpersonalservice. ButjustastheNSAdisclosureshavetakenpeoplebysurprise,althoughithasexistedfor60years,Idoubtwhethermanygrasp eitherthesizeofthedatatrailtheycreatedaily,ortheadvancesintechnologythatarepermittingaselectgroupofbigdata enterprisestoexploitit.Thetechnologyisevolvingsoquicklythatwhatwasunthinkabletwoyearsagoisroutine. Itisbothawonderfulandscaryfuture.Companieswithhugeamountsofdatawillknowmoreaboutyouthanyourself.Theywillbe abletopredictwhatyoumightdonext,saysKaiFuLee,aBeijingbasedinvestorandtheformerheadofGoogleinChina. InacolumnlastweekIcomparedGoogletoGeneralElectricinthelate19thcenturyaninnovativeindustrialenterpriseridinga waveofnewtechnology.TheflipsideofthatisthatGoogle,Amazon,Microsoftandothertechnologygiantsareamassingpowersthat needtobecontrolledcarefully. TheNSAandbigdatacompaniesputtheirdatabasesandcomputingpowertodifferentusesonetoidentifyspiesandterrorists,and theotherstomatchservicestousers.Theyhaveincommontheuseofverylargedatabasesandtechniquessuchaspattern recognitionandnetworkanalysis. Attheadvancedend,thisshadesintoartificialintelligenceofthekindthat,forexample,intuitswhatyoumeanttosearchforeven whenyoumisspellthekeywordscantranslatespeechintoanotherlanguageinrealtime(asMicrosoftdemonstratedinChinalast year)orlearnstorecogniseaphotographofacatbyviewingthousandsofimages.
www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5af52e98-d2a5-11e2-88ed-00144feab7de.html#axzz2W8c3cNTC 1/2

6/13/13

Big data has to show that its not like Big Brother - FT.com

TheabilityofcomputerstolearninasimilarmannertohumansisknownasdeeplearninganditisnotablethatGooglehashired severalpioneersinthefield,includingthescientistandauthorRayKurzweil.AmongthetechnologytransferofferedbytheNSAto privateUScompaniesarecuttingedgemachinelearningtechnologies. Suchsoftwarecaninferalotfromscrapsofinformation,providedthatithasenoughofthem,asshownbytheNSAsefforttoanalyse phonecallmetadatafromVerizon(andperhapsotheroperators).PresidentBarackObamaassuredAmericansthatnooneis listeningtoyourphonecalls,butthisaloneisatrove. AstudybyLatanyaSweeney,aprofessoratHarvardUniversity,foundthat87percentofpeoplecanbeidentifiedsimplybyknowing theirage,genderandpostcode,ifthesearecrosscheckedagainstpublicdatabases.Thatistypicalofthedatacollectedbysocial networksandinternetcompanies. Theextraordinarypowerofbigdatacompaniescomesfrombeingabletocombinethepersonaldataofcustomerswithobservations aboutthem,fromwhichproductstheybuytowhere(asmeasuredbyglobalpositioningsatellitedatafrommobilephones)theyare. Thatproducesasetofinferreddataaboutwhattheyprobablywant. IfIsearchonanAndroidphoneforTajMahalwhilestandinginIndia,forexample,Googlewillprioritiseresultsfortheshrinein UttarPradesh.IfIdothesameinBrickLane,eastLondon,itwillsuggestlocalBangladeshirestaurants.Howlongbeforeitoffersto bookarestaurantbasedonhowIratedothersasIwalkaroundaforeigncityatdusk? Atonelevel,Iwouldbepleasedifitdid(aslongasitwasagoodone)sinceitwouldsavemedoingtheworkmyself.Atanother,asa WorldEconomicForumreportonpersonaldataputit:InferreddatacanfeellikeanallknowingBigBrotherwatchingthesecurity camera. Oneoftheconcernsthatspringsfromthisisthatbigdatacompanieswithsuchsoftwareareverydifficulttocompetewith.Themore datathatIandotherusersprovidethemwith,thebettertheyareatpredictingwhatwewant.Themachinebrainbecomescleverer withuse. Anotheristrust.Socialnetworkshavebeenpooratprotectingusersdata,andtheyholdonlyafractionoftheinformationon peoplesbehaviour,habitsandintentionsonthenewgenerationofservices.ItisnowonderthattheNSAturnstothemithas computingpowerandtheyhaveswathsofmaterial. Athirdisownership.Weeachhaverightsoverourowninformation,butwhathappenswhenitgetsmixedupwiththatofothersand combinedintoavastdatabaseofintentions?IfIchangemymind,howcanitbeunscrambled? Aboveall,wedontknowwhatthistechnologymeansbecauseweareonlyatthebeginningoftheeraofbigdata.Thereareplentyof aspectstoadmirebutitwilltakesometimetolove. john.gapper@ft.com

Printedfrom:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5af52e98d2a511e288ed00144feab7de.html Printasinglecopyofthisarticleforpersonaluse.Contactusifyouwishtoprintmoretodistributetoothers. THEFINANCIALTIMESLTD2013FTandFinancialTimesaretrademarksofTheFinancialTimesLtd.

www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5af52e98-d2a5-11e2-88ed-00144feab7de.html#axzz2W8c3cNTC

2/2