Andrew: Un-cognitive.
Google Has Changed Its Flu Prediction Tool After Getting It Really Wrong Last Year
Flu season has arrived and all eyes will be turning to Google’s Flu prediction tool, which warns where the flu will hit next by watching people’s internet searches. Google Flu was hailed as the shining example of how big data could be put to use for the public good when Google first launched it in 2008. And it worked well back then. Google compared its predictions against the cases that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed and its predictions were pretty darn close. But something went horribly wrong over the past two years, with Google over predicting the number of flu cases by 75% to 95%, the Wall Street Journal reports. The flu season was bad last year, but nearly not as bad as Google thought it would be.