Conclusion

Abstract

AbstractThe unfathomable opportunities of the prediction supply chain need not be constrained by the demands of a few organizations. Procedural fairness, rule of law, justice, autonomy, or beneficence could be held with equal reverence as political, technical, or financial interests. With creative deviance, outliers rebuff limiting top-down speculations and instead rely on bottom-up data analytics. Liberation and transformation are equally as possible as domination and devastation. The conclusion looks to the past to reflect on data science’s potential. The history of the book shows that dissemination of knowledge can prevail despite commercial incentives to contain it. The freedom to learn, as practiced by librarians, offers lessons on rebalancing the power and information asymmetry. The final chapter argues that data analytics necessitates a broader approach to intellectual freedom. Communities that control their own digital representations illustrate the possibility of resistance and renewal through data science done differently.