Machine Learning Thursdays: Evolution in the Age of Accelerations

On August 31, 1993, noted science fiction author William Ford Gibson stated in an NPR interview "The future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed." In 2017, the cloud, machine learning, Big Data, and scalable distributed computing should all compel us to reflect about his declaration more than ever. As these capabilities mature, an oligarchy of technology companies has emerged (like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft) that is skewing the digitization of both our personal and work life. Thomas Friedman in his book, Thank You for Being late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, points out that the rate of change is not only accelerating within technology, but also in our markets and the environment. In this world, one can easily be overwhelmed by the rate of change, and many of us run the risk of being digitally disrupted.