Yogesh MalikFuture is already here, it is just unevenly distributed. Technology Evangelist and Digital FuturistAug 12 · 5 min read

A Journey From Information Overload to DigitalOverload to Algorithm Overload

Information OverloadBack in 1945, Vannevar Bush was already feeling the threat of “InformationOverload”

Vannevar Bush was inventor and science administrator during World War II -heading all wartime military R&D. He was concerned that informationoverload might inhibit the research efforts of scientists.

ast forward few decades, monumental progress in the field ofcomputation and internet made us always-on and we were multi-tasking

like never before

Then we started complaining about the loss of productivity and creativity.

ew solutions to “Death by Information Overload” came — like self-discipline, task prioritization .

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People were always expecting more information, and decisions were delayedwhile waiting. Every 3 minutes people were switching tasks.

Information Overload or Filter FailureClay Shirky, a New York University new-media professor said “It’s notinformation overload. It’s filter failure”. More likely people have fear thatthey might miss something and ready everything that comes on the screen,even it is totally unrelated — or they keep looking for information thatmatches their mood.

don’t need to read everything and watch all videos, you just can’tcomplete — so create intelligent filters -use tools and alerts

Instead of you searching all the web let the content ½nd youThere are just two things missing from this new ecology of media distribution:first, we need a way to share those signals of interest and context with publishers — with privacy well-protected — so publishers can build relationships with andbetter serve users. Second, we need the means to reward not just content-creatorsbut also audience-creators, to motivate them to build these new means of bringingpeople to what interests them.

Digital OverloadThen came “Digital Overload”.

many online platforms, always multi-tasking, compelled to fill idletime with hyper-linked lives, filled with digital distraction

those beeps and notification sounds

and the feeling what if you missed something.

you check your inbox and then click on some video because the headlinewas so tempting.

Every company out there is desperate to grab our attention“We have been seduced by distraction,” says psychologist Daniel Goleman, theauthor of Focus: the Hidden Driver of Excellence. “We are being pulled awayfrom paying attention to the things that enrich our lives.”

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Fear of Missing Out ( FoMO )“Always-on” and “ and “chronic vigilance” started creating FoMO (Fear ofMissing Out) syndrome, which was not a good thing.

ur wish to be happier than others rather than with to be happy iskeeping us consuming all unnecessary Facebook feeds. So stop

constantly measuring your life against a friend’s life event and get a real life

If you wake up in the middle of the night and read your feed — you have“Digital Overload” problem

Some solution to Digital Overload — prioritize stuff, schedule your emailcheck, don’t take your smartphone to the bed.

echnology has become an essential part of today’s lifestyle, you can’t avoidit -but you don’t need to become slaves of technology. Learn new tools and

apps that organize all incoming information.

We all understand that every business is a digital business but you as anindividual are unique, and you deserve real-life experiences -to have anenriched full-filling life

Algorithm OverloadTechnology media is shouting that algorithms will soon rule our lives and webetter understand it well.

Algorithms, driven by vast troves of data, are the new power brokers in society

In the #AlgorithmEconomy, Algorithms willtransform insurance

predict at birth if a person will be a criminal

help judges in Sentencing

Write movies

Make investor switching from humans to algorithms

train your dogs

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determine if people are lying to you in emails

transform talent acquisition

help to crunch data on customer preferences and increase sales

capture crime

audience targeting

he problem is -there are too much of redundancies, How one is differentfrom another? We don’t know.

What we know is that algorithms are shaping our experiences of the realworld.

oon algorithms will be everywhere -in education, politics, healthcare ,finance, cultural and social systems, but we don’t know

How is it done?

What standards are maintained?

What is visible and what is not?

How data is classified and what logic applies to various decisions andactions taken.

hat will you do if algorithms are wrong? Who do you blame? Whoto sue?

Don’t forget -Algorithms represent the coders’ value — and usually it’s onlyabout maximising profits

Can an algorithm run the US government? May be, in the next fewdecades.

But those will not be transparent — the ghost in the machine.

Will there be a “manual override”? No.

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othing comes easy. Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence couldend mankind

Stephen Hawking once said “Success in creating AI would be the biggest eventin human history”

Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft also agree that “Humans should be worriedabout the threat posed by artificial Intelligence”

First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. Thatshould be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though theintelligence is strong enough to be a concern

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk described AI as our ‘biggest existentialthreat’ and likened its development as ‘summoning the demon.’

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