A new Pew Internet/Elon University survey of 1,021 Internet experts, observers, and stakeholders measured current opinions about the potential impact of human and machine analysis of newly emerging large data sets in the years ahead. The survey was an opt-in, online canvassing. While 53% of those surveyed predicted that the rise of Big Data is likely to be “a huge positive for society in nearly all respects” by 2020, 39% of survey participants said it is likely to be “a big negative.”

“The analysts who expect we will see a mostly positive future say collection and analysis of Big Data will improve our understanding of ourselves and the world,” said researcher Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. “They predict that the continuing development of real-time data analysis and enhanced pattern recognition could bring revolutionary change change to personal life, to the business world, and to government.”

Survey respondent Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, said, “This is likely to lead to a better informed, more pro-active fiscal and monetary policy.” Bryan Trogdan, a consultant and entrepreneur, said, “Big Data is the new oil.” And David Weinberger of Harvard University’s Berkman Center observed, “We are just beginning to understand the range of problems Big Data can solve, even though it means acknowledging that we're less unpredictable, free, madcap creatures than we'd like to think. It also raises the prospect of some of our most important knowledge will consist of truths we can't understand because our pathetic human brains are just too small.”

As with all technological evolution, negative outcomes are also anticipated. “The experts responding to this survey noted that