Editorial: Thoughts on Big Data, AI, and Futures Studies

Abstract

Drawing from ethical concerns raised by communities of machine learning developers and considering predictive analytics' very short-term predictions, several futures studies techniques are examined to offer some insights about possible bridges between machine learning and foresight. This review develops three main sections: (1) a brief explanation of central concepts, such as big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, hopefully not too simplistic but readable for larger audiences; (2) a discussion about ethical issues, such as bias, discrimination, and dilemmas in research; and (3) a brief description of how futures studies could address ethical dilemmas derived from different time horizons among machine learning immediate results, forecasting short-term predictions, and foresight long-term scenarios.