Profiles In Analytics From Ready Player One — Aech
A Profile In Identity and Trust
There is probably no stronger place to start an analytic profile inspired by characters from Ready Player One than with Aech. Aech is a Heavy in gamer parlance. Aech is a modder for certain and perhaps an engineer. Aech is also Helen Harris. In other words, Aech has a lot of identities… or is it attributes?
Ready Player One does a strong jobs of calling out the intricacies of online identity. Aech takes it one step further.
Aech : [Discussing Parzival’s upcoming date with Art3mis] Z, you gotta be more careful about who you meet out on the OASIS.
…
She could be a dude too, dude.
Parzival : Nah, come on.
Aech : I’m serious. She could actually be a 300 pound dude who lives in his momma’s basement in suburban Detroit. And her name is Chuck.
Think about that.
As we will soon learn, Aech is speaking from experience. Game avatar and screen names create a very visible (or invisible) example of the dangers of assuming identity online. But this same principle holds for chat rooms, social media, and even online shoppers. Identity is critical to analytics. Without it, insights can not be tied to reality (or even the “reality” of a virtual gaming world).
When we are finally introduced to the human behind Aech, the movie takes an interesting twist… or not. What could be a moment punctuated by deception and lack of trust… well, isn’t. In the gaming world, Aech being Helen just isn’t that big of a deal.
Without a romance angle, Aech being Helen is not really that surprising. It is not like Wade looked exactly like Parzival. But more important, it also doesn’t really change the trust dynamic between Wade and Helen. Their friendship had nothing to do with physical appearance. Had Aech looked just like her avatar but been an agent of the evil corporation — that would have been some high drama.
In Ready Player One and Analytics — Trust IS Identity and Identity IS Trust.
Movies, games, virtual reality, or data & analytics — we live in a world increasingly populated by models. Models are just representations of reality. Data is just mini-models. None of these are trustworthy without some level of identity. But as Ready Player One shows us, there are levels and layers of identity.
Data needs to be connected to real world things. Models — doubly so. But that is not to say that identity needs to link directly to a person. Analysts routinely engage in portfolio, account, and even session level analytics. The human/s connected to those “objects” are important. They must exist. But they do not need to be cleanly identifiable … just cleanly identified.
That distinction is important. But it is only one part of a two part issue in analytics. A well identified, yet potentially still private, individual is only powerful if they can also be connected with. While Wade did not know Aech’s true identity early in the movie, this didn’t stop him from finding and interacting with her. Wade had the level of identity he needed and the trust he required.
This article could continue with a break down of Aech’s analytic skills. We could talk about her ability to mod and repair. But all of these aspects run secondary to Aech’s largest contribution to the movie and our profile. For now, Aech teach us a lesson in trust and identity but we will surely see more of Aech in the articles to come.
Next up, Art3mis — let the hunt begin.
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