AI: more than just Google & Tesla
Recently, at our annual Analytics Experience forum, one of the keynote speakers was SciSports’ CEO. This start-up makes use of data-analyses to support football clubs and players in taking the best possible decisions. Their “BallJames” technology allows you to perform an “MRI-scan” of a football game and to transform three-dimensional pixels into accurate data on the position of each player and the ball throughout the game. The resulting data can not only be used to create more accurate player profiles, it can also serve in the future as the foundation for a revolutionary new viewing experience. By combining in real time match data with 3D “virtual reality” technology, you can e.g. experience a football match of your favorite football player.
GDPR: jeopardizing AI’s future?
Every single day, we see new examples of the many possibilities enabled by AI to enrich our personal and professional lives. But technology is not the only defining factor in the evolution and further growth of AI. One such important contextual factor, the General Data Protection Regulation, will enter into effect on May 25, 2018.
Privacy becomes a major consideration when individuals and their behavior become the object of AI analyses. The Belgian Privacy Committee has launched a set of interesting recommendations regarding the GDPR regulation applied to big data and advanced data analysis. For instance, the committee points out that each company has an information, transparency and due diligence obligation when using algorithms and personal data. On the other hand, it recommends that a legal framework be provided which clearly delineates, for each context and each type of data processor, which data elements can be used in such analyses. Such recommendations clearly show that legislators are not seeking to simply obstruct or prevent the use of new technologies such as data analysis and AI. More accurately, they are trying to strike the right balance between individuals’ rights and duties on the one hand, and the benefits for society on the other.