It turns out, you’re right - data is driving the world around you. And it’s not going to stop. In this illuminating talk, Dan Conner explores this data-centric evolution and the nurturing needed to thrive in its future. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

TRANSCRIPT

I’m here to shine a light on a feeling that we’ve all sensed but can’t quite put a finger on. The feeling that an invisible current is just starting to drive the world around you, just enough to feel it. Just enough to anticipate the waterfall ahead.  This feeling is that data is beginning to drive us in life, in love, at work, and at play.

 

Maybe that feeling of losing control over your path makes you uncomfortable, maybe it frightens you.  I’d like to change that perception tonight.  I’d like to change the way you feel about data driving you – because data needs your help.  And I’ll tell you why.

 

So it turns out, you’re right – we’re in the middle of a tech evolution in which our lives are being transformed by data.  Aware of it or not, data influenced what you ate for breakfast this week, the outfits you picked to wear, the traffic you were in when you yelled at those people on the way to work - even the Instagram stories you watched while you were “taking a bio break” but really just hiding in the bathroom.

 

This evolution started with big data, in which we started taking the pulse of human behavior in such quantities that we had to invent new machines to store and analyze it.  Then Moneyball broke the news that you could win an edge by looking carefully at the right metrics.  Then there was this explosion – there are now more connected devices in the world than there are people in the world, and that population is growing 20x faster than people.  That’s even faster than our tuition bills!  Look at it this way: look at the two people in front of you...now look at the four people in front of them.  All 7 of you have a phone in your pocket that has more than a dozen sensors in it.  And there are a lot of people in this room - this is a data room!  And now I realize, having mentioned your phones, a lot of people want to take them out and start doing some scrolling or swiping, but let’s press on.

 

With all this data being beamed from all of the rooms like this one – there are now more than $3 trillion worth of new companies are now thriving in which the product is data analysis – that’s bigger than the GDP of France, India, and Brazil.  And it’s not going to stop – every company is going to be a big data company, every industry is having its Moneyball moment, and every room is now a data room.  Why?

 

Because now, unlike any other time before in history, we have the ability to select an optimal path.  Data threads, in real time, can be stitched into endless sheets, ready to be patch-worked into our world.  With all this capability at the ready, leaving decisions to experience now seems like guesswork, or foolishness.  And you have a responsibility here to make sure that these are the right decisions.  We all have a part to play to raise data up to meet the challenges ahead.

 

Let me give you an example – so, who here remembers a time around 15 years ago, when they used to make announcements on planes that you just landed on autopilot.  Anybody remember that?  I was just starting to fly, and I remember how it used to freak people out!  They actually had to stop saying it!

 

Fast forward to today – who here has a flight coming up despite this COVID19?  Good for you.  Now imagine that the airline gives you a call.  “Hi there, I’m calling from Real Cheap Air, the industry’s least, most bankrupt airline.  I’m calling to let you know that the plane we’ve selected for your flight is going to be a 737 MAX, but don’t worry, to save you and us some money, we’re not going to do anything complicated like update the software or patch in real time data.  Instead, the pilot‘s with me right here – she assures me: she’s read the news, she’s practiced a thousand times – she’s pretty sure she’s got this sucker.  Now, do you want to upgrade your seat from economy?  No, right? 

 

The point is, something’s changed.  The world is different now.  There is now an expectation that every decision, from the minute, to the critical, should be made based on data.  It’s here.  It’s everywhere.  And it’s changing the world.  That’s why you have these feelings.  That’s why, you just asked yourself instinctively, is that a good use of data, or is that foolishness? 

 

Travel, electricity, medicine, schools, even your favorite charity — each is being reborn with data-driven decisions at its center.  And it won’t stop there.  The next steps in your career, your investments, your tinder dates, how long it takes you to find something decent to watch on Netflix.  Eventually, all your decisions — from your election ballots, to do you want fries with that, to what’s the easiest major in business school (it’s finance, by the way) — eventually, all of our decisions will be expected to be laid out perfectly before us by data-driven systems.  No wonder we all feel a little uncomfortable about it. 

 

Ok, now I’m going to attempt to change that perception.  To change the way you feel about data driving you.  And to do that – first we need to get to know data just a little bit better.

 

What image comes to mind when someone says to you, ‘we need to make this decision based on data’?  Is it a spreadsheet filled with figures?  Is it a txt file filled with alphabet soup?  Is it a web app filled with graphs?  Is it this guy from Star Trek?    See, I think that’s the problem here – when we all think of a data system, we all think of a functioning system, clunking away and ticking out expert insights and instructions.  But in fact, that’s closer to what the producers do behind the scenes of the Bachelor, not the reality.

 

What if I told you that this is closer to what data looks like today.  Think about it, this little guy, let’s call him DAO.  DAO is actually an acronym, D.A.O., that describes a company made up entirely of coded decisions in the data-centric world – this is actually just a picture of my son though, but let’s call this little guy DAO, for now. 

 

DAO has a lot to learn before he inherits the whole world.  He needs to learn what’s fair; he needs to learn how to play nice with the people in the world around him; he needs to learn right from wrong...and while he learns all this, he needs to be kept safe, he needs security, he needs privacy, he needs to be given teeny tiny measures of responsibility at a time while he’s ready for them, not the keys to the starship enterprise until he’s ready.  Isn’t that closer to what data systems look like today? 

 

We’re just starting to scratch the surface of what a DAO-centric world looks like, and DAO isn’t ready for the whole world yet. There are major milestones ahead.  

 

For instance, DAO can recognize some faces, but he doesn’t have a clue if that face is going to buy that loaf of bread or steal it.  Right now, Amazon Go stores can tell how long you picked up a lemon squeezer and looked at it, before you put it back down.  And you know, the next time you’re online, targeted ads are going to show you all of the lemon squeezers available on the market. They’ll even show you ads for jobs making lemon squeezers.  But a recent study found that online job ads showed women consistently lower paying jobs than they showed men.  In other latitudes, policemen are using the same tech tools to lock people in cages based on their religious practices and beliefs.  Clearly, DAO has a lot to learn about bias.  Think about how you learned about it growing up.  From time to time, we even need to teach DAO intentional bias so he can learn right from wrong.   Because one day, DAO is going to be that policeman. 

 

The more interconnected our world becomes, the more vulnerable we are to cyberattack.  And I can’t believe I have to say this, but we need to keep DAO safe from the Russians!  Let me tell you a story: a few weeks ago I got in a car accident, with my son in the car – and, everyone was fine, thankfully, even the Russians - it turned out to be a fender bender, but it was paralyzing to think that my son could have been injured.  Keeping DAO safe while he learns how the world works is that important.  We need to be thinking about keeping our data as safe as we keep our children.  Because one day, DAO is going to be driving that car.

 

Moreover, with our appetite for new data, everything that can be tracked will be tracked. And, make no mistake, this includes what you are thinking.  Right now, brains are being cracked and tracked in real time.  In some classrooms in China, teachers are outfitting their students with specialized caps that can track how well the student is paying attention, in real time, so they can know when to wake up the sleepy kid.  Parents can even log in in real time to see how well their kid is doing.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I would have gotten sent to the principals office a lot more.  The point is, though, we can’t just leave DAO any which place.  Put DAO in a new arena, and he’s going to do what he knows how to do.  We need to be sure we’re giving DAO the right measures of responsibility, as he’s ready for them, so we can learn how best he fits into the world, over time.  Because one day, DAO is going to be teaching that class.

 

When he’s ready, DAO is going to be able to do some amazing things.  Like help us decide on the really easy stuff, like, ‘should I go to Harvard, or should I go literally anywhere else, like Yale?’.  As well as the really hard stuff, like, ‘what’s the best caption to post with this cat pic I just took?’.  It’s an amazing box of tools.  Let’s raise DAO to use those tools to make the world better, not worse.

 

So, here’s how.  The next time you realize a decision was just made for you based on data (a recommendation by YouTube, a recommendation by TikTok) think of DAO, and the questions you might ask if you were at a daycare.  What’s behind this decision?  What’s behind this behavior?  Is it his teachers?  Is it something he’s learned from me?  How comfortable am I with that?  How safe is this place?  Should there be an added layer of security before I feel safe leaving my data down here?  These are essential questions we should be asking.

 

And the next time you’re faced with making a decision based on data, the questions you should be asking are: how can I give DAO the broadest perspective to know right from wrong?  What does DAO know about the world to know what’s fair here?  Is this the right measure of responsibility given what DAO knows how to do? 

 

Driving the world around us is a huge responsibility.  If we’re all invested in showing DAO the right path, we could nurture the future of one of our world’s most promising engines for growth. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.  Let’s get it right, together.

 

Thank you very much.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dan Conner is the founder and general partner at Ascend Venture Capital, a micro-VC in St. Louis that provides financial and operational support to startup founders looking to scale. Dan specializes in data-centric technologies that enable the future states of industries. Before founding Ascend Venture Capital, Dan worked on the operations side of high-growth startups, leading teams to build scalable operational and financial infrastructure. Dan is an Olin Business School MBA graduate and holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University in mechanical engineering; he also holds a masters in advanced renewable technologies from Washington University in St. Louis.

READING LIST & NOTES

• Book: Moneyball, Michael Lewis https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393324815/about-the-book/product-details

• DAO: Decentralized Autonomous Organization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralized_autonomous_organization#:~:text=

• Amazon Go stores facial recognition: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/22/inside-amazon-go-the-camera-filled-convenience-store-that-watches-you-back/

• Online job ads wage gap: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/08/women-less-likely-ads-high-paid-jobs-google-study

• Religious/human rights violations: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/28/china-is-violating-uighurs-human-rights-the-united-states-must-act/

• Neural load monitoring in classrooms: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-efforts-to-lead-the-way-in-ai-start-in-its-classrooms-11571958181

• Gif source: Miike Snow https://giphy.com/gifs/miikesnow-l2JJC1sjFGQ22rNSw

• World population source: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

• Connected devices source: https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/

• Data room image source: https://www.gettyimages.com/

• Data-centric economic value source: https://www.inc.com/associated-press/mindblowing-facts-tech-industry-money-amazon-apple-microsoft-facebook-alphabet.html

• Firework video source: Rapid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btjQDks6fu4

• Train video source: 1slowtv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xisVS_DKpJg

• Data (character) image source: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Data

• DAO image source: https://cryptooa.com/decentralized-autonomous-organization-dao/