The big data age marks a change in the way people think about the world

In a world where decisions are increasingly dominated by data, what is the place for people, intuition, or reckless disregard of facts? If everyone turned to data and used large data tools, unpredictability – such as human instincts, risk-taking, accidents and even errors – might be the key to the difference.

If so, there is a need to create a niche for human factors-that is, to make room for intuition, common sense, and luck to ensure that they are not squeezed by data and machine-generated answers.

This will have an important impact on the concept of social progress. Big data allows us to experiment more quickly and explore more clues. These advantages should lead to more innovation. But in some cases, the spark burst of invention is the data can not show. If Henry Ford had turned to big data algorithms to study what customers wanted, the answer would be "faster horses" and there would be no Ford's famous car line. In a world of big data, what needs to be nurtured is the most closely related to human nature-creativity, intuition, and ambition, because human ingenuity is the source of progress.

Large data is a resource and a tool. Its purpose is to inform, not to explain; it is intended to promote understanding, but it will still lead to misunderstanding-the key is the degree to which people have mastered it. We must accept this technology in a manner that appreciates not only its power but also its limitations.

China opportunity in Big Data era--visit http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/4992.html ">IBM, dean of China Research Institute Shen Xiaowei."

(Responsible editor: Fumingli)