Big Data is a big lie without little data: Humanistic intelligence as a human right

• Published in: Big data & society 2017-02, Vol.4 (1)
• Main Author: Mann, Steve
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2053-9517; 2053-9517
• DOI: 10.1177/2053951717691550

This article introduces an important concept: Transparency by way of Humanistic Intelligence as a human right, and in particular, Big/Little Data and Sur/Sous Veillance, where “Little Data” is to sousveillance (undersight) as “Big Data” is to surveillance (oversight). Veillance (Sur- and Sous-veillance) is a core concept not just in human–human interaction (e.g. people watching other people) but also in terms of Human–Computer Interaction. In this sense, veillance is the core of Human-in-the-loop Intelligence (Humanistic Intelligence rather than Artificial Intelligence), leading us to the concept of “Sousveillant Systems” which are forms of Human–Computer Interaction in which internal computational states are made visible to end users, allowing users (but not requiring them) to “jump” into the computational feedback loop whenever or wherever they want. An important special case of Sousveillant Systems is that of scientific exploration: not only is (big/little) data considered, but also due consideration must be given to how data is captured, understood, explored, and discovered, and in particular, to the use of scientific instruments to collect data and to make important new discoveries, and learn about the world. Science is a domain where bottom-up transparency is of the utmost importance, and scientists have the right and responsibility to be able to understand the instruments that they use to make their discoveries. Such instruments must be sousveillant systems!