Go to the profile of Yogesh Malik
Yogesh Malik
Exponential Thinker | Technology Evangelist | Digital Futurist

A Journey From Information Overload to Digital Overload to Algorithm Overload

Information Overload

Back in 1945, Vannevar Bush was already feeling the threat of “Information Overload”

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

Fast forward few decades, monumental progress in the field of computation 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.

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

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

Information Overload or Filter Failure

Clay Shirky, a New York University new-media professor said “It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure”. More likely people have fear that they might miss something and ready everything that comes on the screen, even it is totally unrelated — or they keep looking for information that matches their mood.

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

Instead of you searching all the web let the content find you

There 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 and better serve users. Second, we need the means to reward not just content-creators but also audience-creators, to motivate them to build these new means of bringing people to what interests them.

Digital Overload

Then came “Digital Overload”.

So many online platforms, always multi-tasking, compelled to fill idle time 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 headline was so tempting.

Every company out there is desperate to grab our attention

“We have been seduced by distraction,” says psychologist Daniel Goleman, the author of Focus: the Hidden Driver of Excellence. “We are being pulled away from paying attention to the things that enrich our lives.”

Fear of Missing Out ( FoMO )

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

Our wish to be happier than others rather than with to be happy is keeping 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 email check, don’t take your smartphone to the bed.

Technology has become an essential part of today’s lifestyle, you can’t avoid it -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 an individual are unique, and you deserve real-life experiences -to have an enriched full-filling life

Algorithm Overload

Technology media is shouting that algorithms will soon rule our lives and we better understand it well.

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

In the #AlgorithmEconomy, Algorithms will

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

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

Soon 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 and actions taken.

What will you do if algorithms are wrong? Who do you blame? Who to sue?

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

  • Can an algorithm run the US government? May be, in the next few decades.
  • But those will not be transparent — the ghost in the machine.
  • Will there be a “manual override”? No.

Nothing comes easy. Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind

Stephen Hawking once said “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history”
Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft also agree that “Humans should be worried about the threat posed by artificial Intelligence”
First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk described AI as our ‘biggest existential threat’ and likened its development as ‘summoning the demon.’