The Impact of Big Data on Your Personal Life

Guest Post by Finnegan Pierson

The term Big Data has been around for a while now. However, there is still confusion on what it means. The concept of big data is rapidly evolving, and its definition is often reconsidered. However, what is clear is that big data has played a major role in transforming the digital world. It is now often used in conjunction with other technologies such as artificial intelligence to have a tangible impact on the ordinary person. Here are a few ways big data might affect your life.

Assessing Risk

If you are trying to purchase a home protection plan, it is more likely than not that your insurer will use big data to estimate your premiums. Insurers use big data to estimate how much risk a person carries and what price point would drive more customers to them. They usually use various data points such as behavioral data and safety statistics of a given neighborhood. In the modern world, you could even get a lower premium than you expected thanks to big data. This ensures that people who deserve lower premiums benefits from them.

Better Music Streaming Experience

Big data is now used by all the major video and audio streaming services. These streaming services gather crowd-sourced data and data from their libraries. This data is usually gathered in the form of likes and dislikes and other complex methods of gathering data. The result is that they can use algorithms to ensure everyone gets the music that is perfect for them. This technology is still in its infancy. However, as more people stop buying physical records, the technology will continue to advance a great deal.

Better Health

One of the areas that have benefited from big data is the health sector. For one, most medical records are now digitized. This ensures medical experts can determine the type of treatment that is most effective for a given illness. Besides that, it can help to track the spread of a disease in a given region and stop it in its track before it reaches the masses. These capabilities were not there just two or three decades ago.

Big data does not just help to treat patients. It helps others avoid getting sick. For instance, with the use of big data, it can be possible to identify which lifestyle choices one needs to make if they wish to improve their health.

This concept is even used to determine one’s genealogy and which diseases they are most likely to suffer from in future. Thus, they can now take measures to prevent that from happening. For instance, if someone is predisposed to alcoholism, he or she can take active measures to avoid indulging in alcohol.

Chatbots and Personalizing Results

A useful example of big data in daily life is chatbots. These bots use big data to ensure customers on a company website get personalized results each time. This is something that would normally require speaking to a customer representative. However, this is not practical when a company has millions of daily customers.

As a result, chatbots can ensure that you receive the help you need in a timely manner. The data about you is collected each time you use the online service. With time, it will become better at predicting your exact needs to ensure you make the best use of your time. Thus, the bots get smarter the longer you use a site.

Easing Traffic

Big data plays an important role in how fast you get to work. Most modern roads have magnetic sensors and other IoT devices such as GPS, which help with traffic management. This data is collected and analyzed in real time. It helps to ensure you get to work on time.

Summary

Overall, big data is going to be an important tool for the future. With growing computing speeds and a better understanding of big data, it will ensure better management of your time, finances, and traffic choices.