A Bit of Humanity in Data

• Date: 01 January 2016
• Published date: 01 January 2016
• Author: Tim Chartier
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22126

97

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI 10.1002/jcaf.22126

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A Bit of Humanity in Data

Tim Chartier

“The contradictions

are what make human

behavior so maddening

and yet so fascinating,

all at the same time.”

—Joan D. Vinge,

American fiction writer

Data is straightforward.

Eachbit is a 1 or a 0.

Each byte consists of

8bits. From there we get kilo-

bytes, megabytes, gigabytes,

terabytes and the once unfath-

omable petabytes. Data can

encode comments posted on

Twitter or the movement of

an athlete on a field. The pos-

sibilities can seem endless.

Atthe same time, data grows

at unprecedented rates. Beyond

simply the volume and velocity,

data can be frustrating to mine

for another reason—it often

encodes human behavior.

Over this academic year, I’m

working as a chief researcher

for the big data company

Tresata. The company has a

bold vision—enrich life—and it

does so by enabling businesses

to monetize their customer

data provided such monetiza-

tion improves the lives of their

customers (easy, convenient,

affordable, and healthy). It

offers automated solutions in

the areas of marketing, risk, and

fraud. While my primary role is

to apply the company’s power-

ful tools in the space of sports

analytics, I’m also advising on

their existing projects, which

involves a lot of listening.

Recently, a Tresata data

engineer introduced me to

a retail project: automating

grocery lists. From your shop-

ping data, they figure out how

you’ve shopped in the past

and then predict when you’ll

need items and even what

dealswould be important to

you in the future.

Quickly, I thought of my

trips to the grocery store. I

shop on one particular day. In

fact, my routine is so consistent

that the employees at the deli

will stop and check the calen-

dar if I come on another day

of the week! I buy a handful

ofproducts every week and

other products periodically.

There are a number of items

Ialways stock up on when they

are on sale.

I noted these tendencies to

the data engineer. He smiled

and responded, “You do. But

how consistent are you? Do

you ever get milk, for instance,

somewhere else? Remember,

there are only 52 weeks in a

year, so even some variance

can look significant if we

aren’t careful.” The point was

well timed. That very morn-

ing, Ihad zipped down to the

local pharmacy to buy milk.

The shopping trip secured

cereal asa quick breakfast

for my family as I left for my

early morning commute to the

downtown office.

Take a moment and think

of your own shopping. How

consistent are you? Do even

your most consistent purchases

have inconsistencies? My gro-

cery list, for instance, changes

significantly any time my chil-

dren are on vacation, whether

it be Thanksgiving or summer

break.

Our world has significant

amounts of data, and much of

it records human experience.

While we, as people, have rou-

tines and tendencies, we also

have the ability, in a moment,

to make a different decision

based on our perceived con-

text in situations. Given our