BIG CAPTA – LITTLE DATA

Emmanuel Tourpe Director of TV and VOD Programming @ RTBF

Free University of Brussels-Université Catholique de Louvain

1. Introduction 2. The finite and the infinite 3. Words and things 4. From « mathesis universalis »

to a digital world 5. Man is not a monad 6. algorithms have no ideological

neutrality 7. Abandon behaviourist beliefs 8. Conclusion

AGENDA

• Ray Kurzweil : the “age of singularity” computer-based unification

• Are we living in a matrix? • We are living a breakaway

moment : post-modernity • Rob Kitchin : Big Capta

1. INTRODUCTION

• Turing’s universal machine • “the infinity of calculation

bears at its heart the stamp of human finiteness”

2. THE FINITE IN THE INFINITE

• 5 limits : 1. The limits of computational

capacity 2. The limits of numerical reduction

of the analog, qualitative reality of our behaviours

3. The limits of a reduction of man to an individual closed in upon themself, a prisoner of the past

4. The limits of “world views” that govern the drawing up of algorithms.

5. The limits of behaviourist models behind recommendation

2. THE FINITE IN THE INFINITE THE LIMITS OF BIG DATA

• capta represent only a limited sub-set of the data produced (Kitchin)

• verbalising = 7% of our communication

• Don’t consider behavioural figures in isolation and singularly

3. WORDS AND THINGS

• Modernity founded on – freedom = summit of the

human spirit – computational power of

human reason can pierce all secrets

• “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” (Shannon, 1948)

4. FROM “MATHESIS UNIVERSALIS” TO A DIGITAL WORLD

• A vast amount of reality is lost when we digitise reality

• Big Data : from linking data to tracking all human digital activity

4. FROM “MATHESIS UNIVERSALIS” TO A DIGITAL WORLD

• Monadology (Leibniz, 1714) • Today’s rec sys : isolated

individual, locked into his past • For Leibniz, monads have no

doors, no windows • This is the essence of filter

bubbles • Humans are made of

connections

5. MAN IS NOT A MONAD

• Algorithms entail a certain view of the world (bias)

• Question for PSM : what world do our algorithms reflect?

• A charter of the values of our algorithms is needed

6. ALGORITHMS HAVE NO IDEOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY

• simplistic illusion = future “customer” behaviour entirely predictable and calculable on the basis of past behaviours

• respect and encourage freedom

7. ABANDON BEHAVIOURIST BELIEFS

• “To think is to invent” (Michel Serres)

• We must think philosophically about the limits to the projects we initiate

• We must not lose sight of the limits of Big Data and recommendation algorithms

• Big Data is only one tool amongst many

8. CONCLUSION

• recommendation is one way of connecting to audience alongside 3 others : – Search – Semi-automated playlist – Human editorialisation or

programming

CONCLUSION

THANK YOU

TIME FOR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS