IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 9

the outcome of binary-choice elections and referenda, where opinion
is polarized and a relatively small
shift can make a substantive difference in the outcome [26]. Critically,
though, civic dignity is undermined
if the manipulation of pathos effectively tricks the demos into taking
decisions that are not for the common good [11].
Finally, then, what of the relationship between the subject,
"Big Data," and the object, "what
it means to be human." If "what it
means to be human" includes the
capability at scale to solve public
action problems and sustain common-pool resources, to create a
civilized society characterized by its
tolerance of difference and dissent
and support for the weakest, and to
answer the political question "how
might we live our lives together, better" [11]; and if "what it means to be
human" includes the capability of
individuals to follow logical reasoning (logos), to establish trustworthy
credentials (ethos), and avoid emotional determinism (pathos); and
since both of these capabilities are
being adversely affected by design
choices underpinning the use of
BD/ML in the Digital Transformation:
then one could reasonably reach the
conclusion that unscrupulous use of
BD/ML is at least diminishing, if not,
in fact destroying, "what it means to
be human."
Big Data won't destroy your
hu manity. Somebody abusing Big
Data might just do that. The original
proposition might not be true in a
literal or definitional sense, but as a
process not of individuation but of
speciation, it might become true in
its spiritual and metaphorical senses. In which case, in conclusion and
in the best practice of pathos, the last
word can be left to Science Fiction:

SEPTEMBER 2019

"In brief, our collective memories, the richest part of us, have
been taken away, and we are
poor indeed. In return for castles of the mind, our rulers have
given us mud hovels palpable
to the touch; a bad exchange
for us. ...
Generation of cows! Sheep!
Pigs! We have not even the
spirit of a goat! If Epaminondas was a man, if Achilles was
a man, if Socrates was a man,
then are we also men?" [27].

Author Information
Jeremy Pitt is Professor of Intelligent
and Self-Organizing Systems at
Imperial College London, U.K. Email:
j.pitt@imperial.ac.uk.

References

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IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/revolt-of-the-rich/ https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/revolt-of-the-rich/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

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