From Tim O’Reilly and Jennifer Pahlka
Where the Web Squared world gets really interesting, though, is when applications use all the senses of a device, coordinating them much like the human brain coordinates our senses, to draw conclusions that would be difficult with one sense alone.
via The ‘Web Squared’ Era – Forbes.com.
and on TED
Going back to O’Reilly & Pahlka –
The scale, nature and speed of the data change what we mean by collective intelligence. Consider the obvious use case: internet-connected GPS applications that have built-in feedback loops, reporting your speed and using it to estimate your arrival time based on its knowledge of traffic ahead of you.
I’m not sure about the term collective intelligence. A feedback loop is just that, data into a process, data out. Intelligence for mine implies a notion of active judgement and adaptation. A simple GPS based application is just leveraging data in a sophisticated manner. It looks smart but I’m not convinced it’s intelligent.
This does point to something else though, which sounds like a good story from the realms of speculative fiction. What if, or more likely when, we do succeed in creating something that has its own powers of judgement and adaptation which we continue to feed with terrabytes of data, what then? Have we created another form of intelligent life and how will it view its creators?
Or say we fail to spawn such a thing, what are the implications of these new sources of social intelligence if they are exploited for less than altruistic reasons.
My GPS equipped mobile thingy instantly becomes a tracker that could be used to monitor my location. Biometric indicators could provide real time tracking of my physical condition, such data might be useful to a medical officer but it could also be used by an insurance company to vary my premiums or coverage. Monitoring my purchases or purchase inquiries could provide other important profiling about my lifestyle and my future intentions. In other words, what if a real Big Brother comes along?
Ok, fear of the future is no real reason not to go on but a dewy eyed vision of the future may blind us to other things that could happen, even if in our hearts we hold more noble aspirations. Not everyone in the world is so generous.
