Man Over Machine: the Next Phase of the Web

Mark Hurd, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, said in June 2009 that more data will be generated in the next four years than in the entire history of the planet. He wasn't kidding! In the summer of 2010, 24 hours of video was being uploaded to YouTube every minute, 50 million tweets were being sent out into the ether, and 1 billion content shares were taking place on Facebook every day. Human beings can famously only process between five and nine distinct things in their brains at any given time. So, how can we cope with this deluge of data and expect to synthesize it into information, knowledge and valuable insights?

After spending several years at Google working on solving this class of problems using machines and computational techniques, Deep Nishar realized that the solution might be closer to home. Human beings, when faced with complex decisions, tend to reach out to their 'networks' - friends, family, and experts. Applying the same paradigm to the online world, social and professional networks coupled with computational power, seems to be one way in which we can not only cope with but also take advantage of this data deluge, deriving valuable insights that inform us and help us make better decisions.

Speaker: Deep Nishar

Room 202