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Humans versus computers

Differences in their ability to absorb and process information for business decision purposes — and the implications for the future

IRN Research

Information overload is a very common problem in the business information industry. However, the root of this problem is not too much information; rather it is the fact that humans have limited attention spans to handle this information. Humans possess more processing power than computers but computers score over us in having almost unlimited attention spans. We must allocate our attention span in such a way as to maximize the information we obtain, given the constraint of our mental abilities. We have adopted a number of strategies to cope, like using intelligent search agents or spreading what attention we have thinly across as many information sources as possible (in other words skimming). The financial services industry, however, has adopted a radical approach: cut the human out of key parts of information acquisition and processing and use computers instead. This article argues that this approach could well spread to the wider business information market in the next few years. Far from being a threat, this could prove liberating for information professionals, allowing them to become more expert in specific industry sectors. The new breed of industry information portals, or community sites, will greatly aid in this transition and will build professional skills and efficiency.

Key Words: algorithmic trading • attention deficit • cognitive ability • computers • data processing power • equation • formula • humans • information acquisition • information overload • information processing • information providers • information strategy • interpretation • micro economics • numeric data • textual information

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