TED Talk: "Big Data is Better Data" -Kenneth Cukier

In Kenneth Cukier’s TED talk “Big Data is Better Data” Cukier took a very interesting approach to big data. He didn't talk about how is evil and taking away our privacy. He is thinking bigger; he realized that things could be generalized in good ways to improve society. He argues that Big Data is the thing that will bring the human race together. He says that not only will it bring us together; it will keep us safer in things like driving. He talked about machine learning and how computers will get smarter with data, just like we do. He also mentioned the reverse side of big data, which was necessary for this argument in order to maintain fairness.

I think that Cukier said some things about Big Data that made me think about it in a different way. I had always heard about the negative connotations of Big Data. He made me think about how great this technology can be for mankind. Things in theory will be safer, statistics will be more accurate, and mankind will be just better. He also made me worry about the things that big data could end up doing to our rights as humans. It could end up ruining our freedom and making us trapped by our own technology. He used Edward Snowden as an example for this. Snowden is seeking political asylum from the big data he collected.

http://www.ted.com/talks/kenneth_cukier_big_data_is_better_data?language=en