Lesson plan
Machine-generated data
Machine-generated data is information automatically generated by a computer process, application, or other mechanism without the active intervention of a human. While the term dates back over fifty years, there is some current indecision as to the scope of the term. Monash Research's Curt Monash defines it as "data that was produced entirely by machines OR data that is more about observing humans than recording their choices." Meanwhile, Daniel Abadi, CS Professor at Yale, proposes a narrower definition, "Machine-generated data is data that is generated as a result of a decision of an independent computational agent or a measurement of an event that is not caused by a human action." Regardless of definition differences, both exclude data manually entered by a person. Machine-generated data crosses all industry sectors. Often and increasingly, humans are unaware their actions are generating the data.
Article summary
Machine-generated data is information automatically generated by a computer process, application, or other mechanism without the active intervention of a human. While the term dates back over fifty years, there is some current indecision as to the scope of the term. Monash Research's Curt Monash defines it as "data that was produced entirely by machines OR data that is more about observing humans than recording their choices." Meanwhile, Daniel Abadi, CS Professor at Yale, proposes a narrower definition, "Machine-generated data is data that is generated as a result of a decision of an independent computational agent or a measurement of an event that is not caused by a human action." Regardless of definition differences, both exclude data manually entered by a person. Machine-generated data crosses all industry sectors. Often and increasingly, humans are unaware their actions are generating the data.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.