Lesson 5 How Far Will Technology Go?
Big Data
Every Move Counts
It is now almost ____ to live a truly private life because every human activity, be it a walk to the park or the sending of a simple text message, produces data.
Phones, ____, computers, cameras in cars, and sensors in buildings and street corners all generate different forms of data.
The Internet of Things (IoT) connects home appliances to the web, uploading such everyday information as how often we take cheese from the fridge or do a load of ____.
The ____ of information and communications technology allows this data not only to be generated but also to be collected and stored.
Almost every move we ____ adds up to form a vast bank of information called Big Data.
What Is Big Data?
____ Data is frequently characterized and defined 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 years alone is greater than all of the ____ 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 transaction ____.
Moreover, such data is gathered and stored at a remarkable speed: as soon as ____ 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 data in an efficient and ____ way.
When such ____ 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 ____ might influence the way we live.
Big Data for the Public Good
Seoul and its satellite cities are home to more than 25 million people who are often ____ to take expensive taxi rides late at night when buses and subways are no longer available.
When city officials decided to provide a new late-night bus service to commuters, they had to figure out the highest frequency ____ 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 ____ phone communications, and discovered a sudden increase in rides and text messages at certain places and times.
Based upon this information, they settled on several late-night routes and schedules to provide the bus service to the ____ number of people.
This was how the ____ Owl Bus came to be.
Big Data in Education
Over the next decade, Big Data will be replacing traditional ____ guidance methods.
In fact, in some universities, data analysis ____ already been used to predict the probable success or failure of certain students.
Data analysts have scanned through hundreds of thousands of personal and academic student records in order to predict ____ intervention may be needed.
Certain behaviors seem to be informative, such as how often students see advisers and tutors or whether they ____ a course out of sequence.
Some universities have found that students' performance in “predictor” courses is often a good indicator of whether they ____ graduate or not.
Based upon this ____ Data analysis, many universities maintain a list 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 can reach out and ____ guidance.
Big Data in Medicine
More ____ analyses of Big Data will be changing the way health is assessed and medicine is practiced in the future.
The biomedical ____ are already so data-driven that biologists and doctors are accustomed to collecting, analyzing, and interpreting huge datasets with the help of supercomputers.
The Human Genome Project is a case in point. It took 13 years to complete the first full genome sequence of one person, consisting of ____ billion base pairs.
These days, it only takes ____ 24 hours to sequence a person's genome, demonstrating the massive impact data analysis technology has had on the field.
Biomedical ____ are still trying to figure out what each gene in the sequence does and how they interact to affect our health.
They are optimistic that genomic data analysis will revolutionize our understanding of health and ____ on a scale we cannot imagine now.
Biological variety on an individual level has necessitated a move from Big ____ to “really” Big Data.
Each person is unique in terms of diet, environment, habits, and the relationships they ____.
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 ____, while others, like H. pylori, may cause stomach cancer or other diseases.
No individual has the same combination of gut bacteria, and they may adapt and ____ over time.
The enormous number of ____ can only be researched using Big Data analysis.
Soon, medical researchers hope to understand how an individual's biological environment interacts with different microbes in order to create ____ healthcare treatments.
Two Sides of a Coin
It's hard to doubt that Big ____ will continue to be an important part of human society.
Data-based prediction will replace simple guessing, arming people with techniques to uncover hidden patterns, unanticipated correlations, global trends, and ____ meaningful information that will hopefully lead to more informed decisions.
____ argue it will fundamentally 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 ____ what, using it may give rise to unintended consequences.
____ on what data you examine, how you interpret it, and what purpose you have, 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 whether or not past data can be used to predict ____ events.
The results of Big Data analyses may mean that some people are denied health insurance coverage because of their family's genetic history, or that others could be put on ____ lists because their past behavior indicates possible future criminal activities.
____ tells a story, but the future is always unknown.
Another concern is whether the ____ of the data or the provider of the data has ownership rights.
For example, many companies ____ their customers' personal information for commercial purposes.
____ the buyer and the seller can make financial gains, but the customers that provide the information are left out.
Like any resource, using it wisely can be beneficial, but using it ____ can lead to unexpected outcomes.