Lesson 5 How Far Will Technology Go?
Big Data
Every Move Counts
It is now almost impossible to live a truly private life ____ every human activity, be it a walk to the park or the sending of a simple text message, produces data.
Phones, TVs, computers, cameras in cars, and sensors in buildings and street corners all generate different ____ of data.
The Internet of Things (IoT) connects home appliances to the web, uploading such everyday information as how often we take cheese ____ the fridge or do a load of laundry.
The development of information and communications technology allows this data not only to be ____ but also to be collected and stored.
Almost every move we make ____ up to form a vast bank of information called Big Data.
What Is Big Data?
Big Data is frequently characterized and ____ by volume, variety, and velocity: huge amounts of data collected from many different sources in real time.
In fact, the total accumulation of data from the past two ____ alone is greater than all of the information ever recorded before that.
In addition, data comes in various forms, ranging from texts, pictures, and sound files to GPS-based location information and credit card ____ records.
Moreover, such ____ is gathered and stored at a remarkable speed: as soon as you use your library card, a record of your visit can be sent to the web and may contribute to expanding the pool of data.
Modern technology now allows us to analyze ____ in an efficient and economical way.
When ____ data is analyzed with the help of statistical and computational tools, it may tell a meaningful story.
It is worth exploring in the following illustrations how this new technology might influence the way we ____.
Big Data for the Public Good
Seoul and its satellite cities are home to more than 25 million people who are often forced to take expensive taxi rides late at night when ____ and subways are no longer available.
When city officials decided to provide a new late-night bus ____ to commuters, they had to figure out the highest frequency routes and commuter hot spots so they could accommodate as many people as possible.
With the help of Big Data analytics, city officials examined the records of five million late-night taxi rides and 30 billion late-night mobile phone communications, and discovered a sudden increase in ____ and text messages at certain places and times.
Based upon this information, they settled on several late-night routes and schedules to provide the ____ service to the maximum number of people.
This was how the Seoul Owl Bus ____ to be.
Big Data in Education
Over the next decade, Big Data ____ be replacing traditional academic guidance methods.
In fact, in some universities, data analysis has already been used to predict the probable ____ or failure of certain students.
Data analysts have scanned through hundreds of thousands of personal and academic student records in order to predict when ____ may be needed.
Certain ____ seem to be informative, such as how often students see advisers and tutors or whether they take a course out of sequence.
Some universities have found that students' performance in “predictor” courses is often a good ____ of whether they will graduate or not.
Based upon this Big Data analysis, many universities maintain a ____ of courses that might signal a need for intervention.
If a student leaves the path of previous successful students, advisers can be alerted so they ____ reach out and offer guidance.
Big Data in Medicine
____ complex analyses of Big Data will be changing the way health is assessed and medicine is practiced in the future.
The biomedical sciences are already so data-driven that biologists and doctors are accustomed to collecting, analyzing, and interpreting huge ____ with the help of supercomputers.
The Human Genome Project is a case in point. It took 13 years to complete the first ____ genome sequence of one person, consisting of six billion base pairs.
These days, it only takes about 24 hours to sequence a person's genome, demonstrating the massive impact data analysis technology ____ had on the field.
Biomedical scientists are still trying to figure out what each gene in the sequence ____ and how they interact to affect our health.
They are optimistic that genomic data analysis will ____ our understanding of health and disease on a scale we cannot imagine now.
Biological variety on an individual level has necessitated a ____ from Big Data to “really” Big Data.
Each person is unique in terms of diet, environment, ____, and the relationships they have.
To add further complexity, hundreds of trillions of tiny bacteria live in the human intestinal tract, some of which help cells extract energy and maintain overall health, ____ others, like H. pylori, may cause stomach cancer or other diseases.
No individual has the same combination of gut bacteria, and they ____ adapt and change over time.
The enormous ____ of combinations can only be researched using Big Data analysis.
Soon, medical researchers hope to understand how an individual's ____ environment interacts with different microbes in order to create customized healthcare treatments.
Two Sides of a Coin
____ hard to doubt that Big Data will continue to be an important part of human society.
Data-based ____ will replace simple guessing, arming people with techniques to uncover hidden patterns, unanticipated correlations, global trends, and other meaningful information that will hopefully lead to more informed decisions.
Some argue it will ____ reshape our lives.
However, it should be noted that Big Data is a resource that could be used for good or ill, and that, no matter ____, using it may give rise to unintended consequences.
Depending on what data you examine, how you interpret it, and what purpose you ____, the end result may tell different stories.
Debating Big Data
What are the issues that ____ careful deliberation?
One of the biggest concerns is the question of ____ or not past data can be used to predict future events.
The results of Big Data analyses may mean that some people are denied health insurance coverage because of their family's ____ history, or that others could be put on watch lists because their past behavior indicates possible future criminal activities.
History tells a story, but the future is always ____.
Another concern is whether the collector of the data or the provider of the data has ____ rights.
For example, many companies sell their customers' personal information for ____ purposes.
Both the buyer and the seller can make financial gains, but the customers that ____ the information are left out.
Like any ____, using it wisely can be beneficial, but using it carelessly can lead to unexpected outcomes.