The Promise
Thanks to the rising population with a mobile phone, the method of big data is now a viable way to solve complex global problems such as reducing poverty and responding to natural disasters and crises which conventional methods have many limitations at. By tracking people’s digital footprint from their data in phones, researchers and nonprofits can understand the problem better and provide targeted solutions.
The Pitfalls
Most of the pitfalls can be blamed on the immaturity of the big data technology. Problems such as biased algorithms require researchers to perfect the system; unanticipated effects need collaborations to find the root of the poverty problem and target aid in a way that helps people escape the poverty cycles and debt traps. However, in my opinion the lack of regulations will be the largest problem in the bid data solution as it still persists and causes controversies in many developed countries today. As heavily as we rely on our cell phones today, I am pessimistic about the privacy issue we are facing; all three comments are speaking out about privacy. “Good intent” is warning us that we cannot naively hope the big techs will solely contribute to human development without offending people’s private data; “Transparency” wants the government to increase the regulations towards companies that collect and use personal data; the “balancing act” is difficult because there is not a clear boundary between what data we feel comfortable offering to companies that increases our life qualities and what data we do not feel comfortable giving it to strangers. Even in a good-intent program such as reducing poverty, the controversy of data privacy remains since it is extremely hard to find the balance that offer the most assistance to those in need while respecting people’s privacy as much as possible.
The Ways Forward
Having pitfalls does not necessarily mean that we cannot benefit and find solutions from Data Science. Rather, tackling and solving the current outstanding problems in Big Data, including precise targeting as well as privacy protection will turn Data Science into a useful tool to deal with global problems such as poverty and inequality. Preciseness allows the experts and volunteers to target the people in need the most; Privacy protection can constrain the powers of the ever-growing big techs, letting people be the controller of their own information.
Calling for a “humbler data science,” Blumenstock understands that data science does not have the almighty power to solve every problem, but he asks the audience to never stop believing its potential.