October 1, 2013

1 min read

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How, Exactly, Is Big Data Going to Change the World?

M.I.T. computer scientist Alex Pentland explains

By Seth Fletcher

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There’s a reason every government and corporation wants to hoard as much data on as many people as possible. Gather enough data, says Alex “Sandy” Pentland, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Human Dynamics Laboratory, and you can achieve a “God’s-eye view of humanity”—which he’ll admit is a little scary.

But, as he argues in the October issue of Scientific American, it is also extraordinarily promising. Used correctly, he says, big data can perform miracles as diverse as preventing pandemics and getting the federal government to function again. In this video Pentland answers questions about big data and its role in society.

Seth Fletcher is director of editorial content at Scientific American. His book Einstein's Shadow (Ecco, 2018), on the Event Horizon Telescope and the quest to take the first picture of a black hole, was excerpted in the New York Times Magazine and named a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. His book Bottled Lightning (2011) was the first definitive account of the invention of the lithium-ion battery and the 21st-century rebirth of the electric car. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times op-ed page, Popular Science, Fortune, Men's Journal, Outside and other publications. His television and radio appearances have included CBS’s Face the Nation, NPR’s Fresh Air, the BBC World Service, and NPR’s Morning Edition, Science Friday, Marketplace and The Takeaway. He has a master’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degrees in English and philosophy from the University of Missouri.

More by Seth Fletcher
Scientific American Magazine Vol 309 Issue 4This article was published with the title “How, Exactly, Is Big Data Going to Change the World?” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 309 No. 4 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican102013-74KF3Rbw9INBeN2ApjVc2K
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