66
4 Google as God?
have cost many trillion dollars. And cybercrime costs more than e750 billion a year
in Europe alone.
If a computer simulation of the entire global socio-economic system could produce
just a 1% improvement in dealing with these problems, the benefits to society would
be already immense. But if the management of smaller complex social systems
provides any guide, even an improvement of 10–30% seems possible. Overall, this
would amount to savings of more than $1 trillion annually. Even if we had to invest
billions in creating such a system, we could see a hundred-fold return on investment
nevertheless. Even if the success rates were significantly smaller, this would represent
a substantial gain. Thus, a digital crystal ball seems to be a worthwhile investment.
But how could one ensure that the world stays on the predicted path, and individual
decision-makers don’t mess it up?
4.3 The Digital “Magic Wand”: A Remote Control
for Humans?
Whenever we spend time on the Internet, we leave digital traces that are collected by
electronic “cookies” and other means, often without our consent. But the more data
is generated about us, stored and interpreted, the easier it becomes to find out things
about us, which were not intended to be shared. Our computers and smart devices
leave unique digital fingerprints—such as their configuration, our wireless network
logins, behavioral patterns, and movement records. As a result, it is now possible
for data analysts to infer our interests, passions, ways of thinking, and even our
feelings. Some companies analyze “consumer genes” to offer personalized products
and services. 3000–5000 different kinds of metadata derived from personal data have
already been collected from almost a billion people worldwide, including names,
contact data, incomes, consumer habits, medical information and more.
7 Therefore,
everyone with a certain level of income and an Internet connection has been mapped
to some extent.
This raises a controversial, but unavoidable question. Would it be good if a
company or well-intentioned government had access to all this data? Would it help
politicians and administrations to make decisions that reduce terrorism, crime, energy
consumption, environmental degradation, traffic congestion, financial meltdowns and
recessions? Furthermore, could the data be used to optimize our health and education
systems and to provide public services which are tailored to the needs of the citizens?
The question is to what extent can this idea be realized? If one had enough data
about every aspect of life, could one be omniscient? Would it even become possible
to predict the world’s future? For this, one would certainly have to determine people’s
choices to avoid deviations from what was predicted before. How could this be done?
This is easier than one might think! One could use information specifically tailored
7 See https://www.democraticmedia.org/acxiom-every-consumer-we-have-more-5000-attributescustomer-data.
4 Google as God?
have cost many trillion dollars. And cybercrime costs more than e750 billion a year
in Europe alone.
If a computer simulation of the entire global socio-economic system could produce
just a 1% improvement in dealing with these problems, the benefits to society would
be already immense. But if the management of smaller complex social systems
provides any guide, even an improvement of 10–30% seems possible. Overall, this
would amount to savings of more than $1 trillion annually. Even if we had to invest
billions in creating such a system, we could see a hundred-fold return on investment
nevertheless. Even if the success rates were significantly smaller, this would represent
a substantial gain. Thus, a digital crystal ball seems to be a worthwhile investment.
But how could one ensure that the world stays on the predicted path, and individual
decision-makers don’t mess it up?
4.3 The Digital “Magic Wand”: A Remote Control
for Humans?
Whenever we spend time on the Internet, we leave digital traces that are collected by
electronic “cookies” and other means, often without our consent. But the more data
is generated about us, stored and interpreted, the easier it becomes to find out things
about us, which were not intended to be shared. Our computers and smart devices
leave unique digital fingerprints—such as their configuration, our wireless network
logins, behavioral patterns, and movement records. As a result, it is now possible
for data analysts to infer our interests, passions, ways of thinking, and even our
feelings. Some companies analyze “consumer genes” to offer personalized products
and services. 3000–5000 different kinds of metadata derived from personal data have
already been collected from almost a billion people worldwide, including names,
contact data, incomes, consumer habits, medical information and more.
7 Therefore,
everyone with a certain level of income and an Internet connection has been mapped
to some extent.
This raises a controversial, but unavoidable question. Would it be good if a
company or well-intentioned government had access to all this data? Would it help
politicians and administrations to make decisions that reduce terrorism, crime, energy
consumption, environmental degradation, traffic congestion, financial meltdowns and
recessions? Furthermore, could the data be used to optimize our health and education
systems and to provide public services which are tailored to the needs of the citizens?
The question is to what extent can this idea be realized? If one had enough data
about every aspect of life, could one be omniscient? Would it even become possible
to predict the world’s future? For this, one would certainly have to determine people’s
choices to avoid deviations from what was predicted before. How could this be done?
This is easier than one might think! One could use information specifically tailored
7 See https://www.democraticmedia.org/acxiom-every-consumer-we-have-more-5000-attributescustomer-data.