Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

The third function of metadata is forecasting, which provides
larger-scale knowledge about social groups.
Perhaps the most notable example of data analytics–based
forecasting was the joint project among the University of
Memphis, the Memphis Police Department, and IBM in
developing what was termed Blue CRUSH (criminal reduction
utilizing statistical history).
By considering crime and arrest data; weather forecasts;
economic indicators; maps of occupied, unoccupied, and
recently sold housing; calendars of local events and paydays,
and several other factors, Blue CRUSH provided Memphis
police with unbelievably detailed forecasts about crimes that
hadn’t yet been committed, predicting them down to the block
and to within a four-hour time window.
The results of data analytics are certainly not failsafe, but the
incredibly successful they actually are: What does it mean that
human behavior can be so unbelievably well modeled and predicted
with data related to credit card use, cell phone information, and
web searches?
Data analytics experts can determine with great accuracy that you
are expecting a child, having an affair, about to have a heart attack,
or are part of a terrorist plot based on a digital footprint you don’t
even know that you are leaving. Is this an affront to free well?
The fact that your behavior is predictable mean doesn’t necessarily
mean that you don’t choose your actions.
Consider mother’s intuition—the uncanny ability of mothers
to determine when their children are about to do something
they shouldn’t.
254