It's Not All about the Data

Abstract

The development of artificial intelligence, the growing power of computers and large amounts of data have had a significant impact on the possibilities for increasing the added value of data. Statistical data processing methods have been joined by machine learning methods and data visualization methods in various fields. In addition to numerical data, there are other forms, such as text, image, sound, etc. Until recently, data analytics dominated, which enabled the discovery of connections in data. In 2022, however, we were surprised by the generative use of large amounts of text, image and music data. Systems such as: GPT, DALL-E, RIFFUSION and others allow us to respond to our text requests with their compositions, images or music. With the available methods, the contents hidden in the data have become accessible to people in new ways. Despite everything, we must be aware that we evaluate the added value of the results obtained from the data with our knowledge and judgments. We are doing things we have never done before. Here we can find out that the data alone is not enough. So, what are they missing? It is necessary to add a "human" side to the data. It is mental interpretation to achieve knowledge, understanding and creative solutions. We will also look at modern "machine" data processing in an ambivalent light, i.e., in the light of dilemmas and some slips.