IBM Wants to Build Machine Learning 'Macroscopes' to Understand the World

Like many tech companies, IBM is starting the new year by making a few predictions. One of them has to do with a software concept they call a "macroscope," a software technology that can be used to analyze the complexities of the physical world. IBM predicts that within five years, such technology will "help us understand the Earth's complexity in infinite detail." Hyperbole aside, the goal is to better manage world's resources and commercial endeavors that use those resources by applying machine learning algorithms across an array of data sources. That includes geospatial data (weather, soil, water, etc.) as well as data about economic, social and political conditions.