The prediction, in brief:

The problem with data is that it’s dead. We should bring it to life … One proposal is to make every last hunk of computerized data its own intelligent software agent, storing information about itself and exchanging a stream of messages with all other relevant data. Having done that, we’d then have to redefine the other basic concepts of computing so that those millions of operations per second compute something meaningful – not just something that looks good. Sounds inefficient, doesn’t it? But basic processor speeds will keep on accelerating, and the computers of the world will keep on getting connected through networks. Let’s spend some of that exponential growth on the production of useful answers and the prevention of computerized hassles.

Predictor: Agre, Phil

Prediction, in context:

In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, Phil Agre, a teacher in the department of communication at the University of California, San Diego, writes:”The problem with data is that it’s dead. We should bring it to life by thinking through all its relationships – both with other data and with the circumstances in the world that it’s supposed to represent. One proposal is to make every last hunk of computerized data its own intelligent software agent, storing information about itself and exchanging a stream of messages with all other relevant data. Having done that, we’d then have to redefine the other basic concepts of computing so that those millions of operations per second compute something meaningful – not just something that looks good. Sounds inefficient, doesn’t it? But basic processor speeds will keep on accelerating, and the computers of the world will keep on getting connected through networks. Let’s spend some of that exponential growth on the production of useful answers and the prevention of computerized hassles.”

Biography:

Phillip E. Agre was an associate professor of information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been the author of research studies on the Internet. He edited The Network Observer, an online newsletter on Internet issues. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1994

Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks

Subtopic: General

Name of publication: Wired

Title, headline, chapter name: Living Data

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.11/agre.if_pr.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney