Most people talk about big data, they want to make a lot of things through the big data, or generate economic benefits, which makes sense, but I think this is not the most important part, the most important thing is to pass the big Data makes people's lives smarter.
If you want to choose a representative data scientist at the forefront of the global innovation revolution, many people will think of Alex Pentland. From wearable device computing to analyzing human behavior, Pentland has been predicting the future and leading the way. As he said in an interview: "I live in the future, I like to help new ideas develop and grow, and finally put into practice, and such things will eventually cover the whole world."
Provide a "social feeling"
Reporter: You have said more than once in public that you will not wear any wearable device, because today's wearable devices do not meet your standards. So what does your wearable device look like?
Alex Pentland: I think good wearables can help people live better, integrate into people's lives, and promote social interaction.
We are still in the first stage of wearable devices. Many devices don't have enough battery life. They can only provide data but can't give advice. Most people use these products for fun, not practical. But what excites me is that many companies such as Apple, Google, Samsung, etc. have begun to explore wearable devices, which will lead to benign competition. Although our current equipment is still in its infancy, I am confident that the second phase of wearables is about to begin.
Reporter: What obstacles need to be overcome to reach the second stage? Is the sensor problem raised by many people still a hurdle?
Alex Pentland: For a long time, the sensors were a hurdle. You can think of wearables as a human assistant. Sensors are the key to human assistants. Without it, wearables can't sense the situation and situation you are facing.
In the past few years, smartphones have grown tremendously, but computers or smartphones are very different from wearables. People use computers. Computers don't have to know who is using it. They don't have to know who else is around, and where it is placed, but wearables are different. It needs to know where you are, what you are doing, and what's around. Who can make the right decision. So I said that wearable devices are social, which is the biggest problem in the current development. If humans can overcome this problem, there will be a big breakthrough in wearable devices.
Reporter: In your opinion, how does wearables ultimately affect our lives?
Alex Pentland: There is no doubt that wearables will eventually become part of our lives.
Take clocks as an example. There were no clocks for centuries. At that time, people had to meet, saying that we will see you again when spring arrives. This range has been for several days. Who knows where the spring will really come? To be more specific, people will say that we meet at noon one day, but There is also a range of time. Until the invention of the clock, people finally can accurately understand the time, which also changed the way people live.
Similarly, we have a mobile phone and the lifestyle is different. If you want to meet someone, you will now say that we are in a certain square. When you arrive, you will call and say where I am, because people can go anywhere, anytime. Exchange.
In the future, wearable devices can also be popularized to this extent. You will use it to understand each person's emotions, know how to communicate with others, or the device will remind you that you should stop drinking coffee. Just like there is no precise time to have a clock, in the future you will have a device that can be loaded into a pocket or worn on your body. You will know everything around you, and it is all under your unconscious state. People have a sense of direction and time. In the future, they will become more and more social.
Data should not only be related to money
Reporter: We know that the development of wearable devices is inseparable from big data. You are also regarded as the authority of global big data. However, it seems that you have many opinions on big data that are quite unique and not very "mainstream". Can you elaborate? What is your big data perspective?
Alex Pentland: Most people talk about big data. They want to make a lot of things go through big data or generate economic benefits. That makes sense, but I don’t think this is the most important. Partly, the most important thing is to make people's lives smarter through big data.
Most of the current big data is still for commercial services. Big data should not only be related to money, but should be related to people. With big data, you can understand a person's health, understand his emotional state, and you will know more about yourself, but there is also a problem. If there is a lot of data about humans, then the machine will become easier to manipulate humans. . You can understand that this is a good thing, because humans also do wrong things, and having big data can improve accuracy; but if the data is over-controlled by the machine, humans will be in danger.
Reporter: In many of the examples you describe, we are vaguely uneasy: an invisible network that collects our data all the time, and all our actions leave traces in the public database. How do you define the boundaries between data collection and privacy protection?
Alex Pentland: For example, in the traditional mode, the user goes to the bank to sign the form, and the information is entrusted to the bank. In this case, few people can disclose it; but now, the bank starts to information. The network is connected and the user data is shared within a reasonable range of signatures. In this case, the risk is slightly higher.
However, the reality is that the latter model is gradually abused, which leads to the discussion of new information models. Under the information model of the new era, personal information and data should be considered as an asset, and users should authorize their own information to a single data. System, this system manages your information like a bank manages assets for you, helping you to credit, review, and withdraw all companies that request your personal data.
In other words, it is to create a secure network with big data. On this secure data system, all sharing is safe, which is also a major direction to solve the data sharing problem of wearable devices - after all, if there is no secure network System, we can hardly believe that our data will not be abused.
If people no longer have personal information security concerns and are willing to share information freely, data sharing for wearable devices will be further possible, and big data can show more and do more.
I am always concerned about human beings.
Reporter: Everything you do is exploring the future. Before we discuss the future, I want to talk to you about the past. Have you ever worked as a truck driver, from a truck driver to a person who influences the world, what have you experienced in your life?
Alex Pentland: In 1973, I was a junior. I dropped out of school that year. I became a truck driver and worked as a temporary worker in many factories. This is a life experience that seems to have gone a detour, mainly because I was weak and frustrated with the rigid and rigid school system. It was not until 1976 that I was ready to return to the campus and enter the Department of Psychology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue a Ph.D. At that time, I was also a heterogeneous school – studying human psychology during the day and studying human-machine dialogue in the artificial intelligence laboratory filled with various advanced robots at night. Ten years later, I started my first laboratory, the current Massachusetts Labor Dynamics Laboratory, and I took a warm and far-reaching name in my dreams - staring at humans.
At present, I have trained more than 50 doctors and hatched many high-tech companies, but I am always concerned about human beings, how to make people live better and how to stare at human beings.
Reporter: Every time you are one step ahead, seeing the future earlier than ordinary people, seeing a farther future, what are the secrets?
Alex Pentland: I always feel that I live in the future. The special environment I am in has given me the unique opportunity to understand how creative culture hatches new ideas, helps them develop and grow, and finally put them into practice, and this environment is gradually covering the whole world.
Jobs once said that innovation is about connecting different things. Innovative people know how to integrate their experiences and integrate other people's experiences as much as possible. I want to be such a person and be a step ahead person.
Character biography
From wearable device computing to analyzing human behavior, Pentland is one of the most cited scientists in global computing science to this day. In 2011, Forbes selected him as one of the seven most influential data scientists in the world, and Newsweek called him "one of the 100 Americans who changed the 20th century."
Pentland is also the co-founder of the World Economic Forum's big data development report and personal data report, providing big data consulting for well-known companies such as Telefonica, Motorola and Nissan, and helping the Indian Institute of Technology to co-found the Asian Media Lab.
"I live in the future" is Pentland's dream declaration and his declaration of action.
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