Data mining sounds like a dirty term that you should try to avoid at all costs. Most people believe that their personal conversations and browsing habits are being recorded all the time. To a certain extent that’s true, but it may not be as big a problem as you think it is. Data mining is being used all the time to improve AI to try and make your life easier, at least when it comes to the products you by. Being able to turn your lights on and off with an AI assistant is just a fun side effect of that.
What is Data Mining?
So, first off, let’s define data mining. Zyte just released an article that talks all about data mining and how it’s used. According to their definition, “data mining means sorting through extensive data sets to get the valuable information you or your business need. It’s a component of the overall data science and analytics process.” That data is then used by the companies harvesting it or sold to other companies. They then use it to show you ads for products they think you might want, based on that data and that’s the long and short of it.
Data Mining creates AI
Data mining and AI are not the same things. According to John McCarthy, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is defined as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs.” That means that data creates the AIs. This information is being used to build artificial intelligence that can be beneficial to your life. It requires a combination of data analytics, data mining, and machine learning. Once the AI model has been built, new data can be input to generate predictions, without having to repeat the process manually.
It drives Competition
With so much data mining going on and AIs being created by it, then created to get it, it only makes sense that there’s going to be a lot of competition for it. Let’s pretend that a person is newly pregnant. That person is going to be spending a whole lot of money on that baby for the next few years. Any company that makes those products wants to get in there as early as possible to create a brand loyalty to what they make. Any company than can be made aware of the pregnancy through AI and data mining is going to have the upper hand.
It can’t be Stopped
No matter how uneasy it makes you, there’s really no way around it. Data mining is here to stay and so is AI. The best thing to do is to come to terms with it and use it to your advantage. Those companies that want to get into your life are going to be offering you lots of deals to get you on their side. Be smart about it and take advantage of what they’re offering. Then jump ship when the deals dry up and take up different offers.