Navigating the Ethical Quandaries of a Data-Driven World

“The Age of Prediction” by Igor Tulchinsky and Christopher E Mason delves into the transformative impact of predictive algorithms on various sectors, from genomics to political campaigning. The book identifies three major developments that have revolutionized predictive modeling: the explosion of Big Data, advanced statistical techniques, and the plummeting costs of computing power, exemplified by Nvidia’s V100 chip. While the book celebrates the advancements in fields like genomics, where DNA sequencing has become faster and cheaper, it also raises ethical and philosophical questions. The authors discuss the “privacy hazard,” where the more invasive algorithms become, the more people will conceal their data. They also ponder the implications for free will in a world where everything becomes predictable, asking whether predictive capacity is truly predictive or simply the elimination of alternative futures. The book suggests that while we are entering a new era of predictive capabilities, it also revives age-old questions about human behavior, morality, and free will.