First published 2013
Big data transforms how we understand the world around us. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger examines our growing capacity to process massive information collections and extract unexpected insights from them. The book shows how data analysis reveals which car paint colors signal good condition, helps New York officials spot dangerous manholes before they explode, and enabled Google to track flu outbreaks faster than traditional monitoring. This new science converts countless phenomena into analyzable formats, from airline pricing to millions of book texts. The authors argue big data represents a shift comparable to the Internet or printing press, reshaping business, healthcare, politics, education, and innovation. Yet this power brings serious risks. Privacy disappears as we know it, and people may face penalties for predicted future actions rather than past behavior. The book explains what big data means, how it will reshape daily life, and offers strategies to navigate its dangers.
Genres: business, non-fiction, 21st-century, artificial-intelligence, information-science, computer-science, academic, algorithms
Vibes: informative, insightful, thought-provoking
Tropes: social-commentary, technological-change
242 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt