The uncertainty conundrum: more innovation, less information.

The world we live in is full of innovation - but with innovation comes more things we need to question.

As Regina Joseph said in 2018, “If oil was the primary resource commodity of the 20th century, then data will be oil’s analogue in the 21st”. And as bizarre as it may seem, this is a very accurate prediction. However, although oil and data are both goods, their worth is based on two polar opposites. The scarcity and accessibility of oil was what made it so valuable, while data is only valuable when it has a universal prevalence.

At this point, we pretty much live our lives on the Internet. As of June 18, 2021, there are currently over 1.86 billion websites online. If you are expecting this growth of information and data to slow down, you are going to be sorely disappointed. This already insurmountable number is predicted to rise exponentially. With the increased adoption of cloud computing and consumer electronics that are ever-improving, we are also looking at an increased amount of data that is required to deliver these experiences. As a result, information has never been as readily available and as in demand. Many experts say that we have already moved past the years of the Digital Era into the years of the Post-Digital Era.

Well, what does it mean to even be “post-digital?” Post-digitalization describes a world where organizations are no longer exploring emerging technologies but are implementing disruptive technologies like mobile, social, cloud, and artificial intelligence, as standard. This shift means that more and more information is publicly available. Open-source information now dominates the Internet, and as average citizens, we are able to see more and know more. At first, this development would seem like a great thing. More innovation; more information — at least, that seems like the obvious logic. However, with the explosion of information and data as a commodity, we also get a rising level of mistrust.

I am sure we can all see where this is applicable to either our own lives, or the lives of other people around the world. Fake news spreads like wildfire through social media. While some may be harmless, for every harmless bit of misinformation, there is another piece with serious negative impacts on a profound scale.

For example, take the recent border crisis between Belarus and Poland. Fake news on Facebook fueled this migrant crisis and helped smugglers profit off desperate people trying to reach Europe. Not so long ago, a video report on Facebook had claimed that Poland was about to open its border, urging all people who wanted to enter the European Union to gather near one of the gas stations at the encampment near the Polish border. Thousands of desperate migrants travelled hundreds of miles and swarmed there, but of course, the border was never opened. In fact, it had never planned to be opened. The video’s claim was just another false promise that was never fulfilled. Many smugglers used this opportunity and started posting their phone numbers on Facebook to advertise trips for anyone willing to pay thousands. Prices would amount to $7,000 - $10,000 just for a guide across “easy” routes. Monika Richter, Head of Research and Analysis for Semantic Visions, an intelligence firm that tracked social media activity related to the crisis, says that “Facebook exacerbated this humanitarian crisis and now you have all these people who were brought over and explicitly misled and ripped off.” The situation on the Polish border is just one example of the many consequences of misinformation.

The era of digitalization has enhanced the positive technologies of the world but has also exacerbated the negative aspects. With the prominence of establishing truth and evidence with recorded audio and image, new technologies with the ability to fabricate these recordings are also on the rise. For instance, programs like Lyrebird can take audio files of a person’s voice and imitate their speech, and Face2Face only needs a couple of images of someone to generate a realistic 3D model of that person. This is a huge concern, as it undermines the credibility of every bit of “factual” media we consume. A recording of someone may not be a recording of them at all!

In this day and age, awareness and skepticism are vital when browsing through the Internet. You never will quite know what is real and what is fake. This is the gist of the uncertainty conundrum: with more innovation, also comes less information.

Sources:

https://content.iospress.com/articles/information-services-and-use/isu180009 

https://www.cloverdx.com/blog/how-much-data-will-the-world-produce-in-2021 

https://cloudgeeni.co.uk/what-does-it-mean-to-be-post-digital/ 

https://www.accenture.com/us-en/blogs/technology-innovation/daugherty-digital-transformation 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/world/europe/belarus-migrants-facebook-fake-news.html