The promise of precision: datafication in medicine, agriculture and education

Abstract

This paper analyses how precision has become a ubiquitous prefix in medicine, agriculture and education. The accompanying imagination in each of these domains is that 'data' will enable greater predictive accuracy through new sensors and interfaces.In this paper, we aim to provide insights regarding the ways in which precision assemblages function to augment and extend existing knowledge and data infrastructures, whilst also being underpinned by the anticipatory promise of the ubiquity of digital and sensing technologies. We argue that precision is marked by new data production and aggregation frameworks to measure and intervene. At the same time, precision draws on -and augments -established clinical, agricultural and educational subjectivities in ways that depict new logics of patient, student and environmental care. As we outline below, the threshold of the shift to precision is articulated and institutionalized at different points in each field we analyze in the subsequent sections of this paper -namely medicine, agriculture and education. This suggests that precision should be understood as an unevenly realized moment in policy development, rather than as simply produced through processes of technological change.

The problem of innovation in technoscientific capitalism: data rentiership and the policy implications of turning personal digital data into a private asset

“…environmental processes) into resources that can be configured as property and can be capitalized as future earnings (i.e. turned into an asset) (Birch and Muniesa 2020; also see Kuch, Gulson, and Kearnes 2020). Personal data is a prime example of this transformation, which we turn to next.…”

“…the "responsible" kind), the notion that the commercialization of science and technology, in and of itself, might be the problem that needs solving is not countenanced. We can see this most clearly by examining the anticipatory and promissory framing of research and innovation in the RRI literature (see also Kuch, Gulson, and Kearnes 2020).…”

Multimodal Technologies in Precision Education: Providing New Opportunities or Adding More Challenges?

“…This further explains why supporters of PE argue that to personalize the learning experience, advanced computer systems might be needed to process such massive amounts of data. Indeed, the provision of PE includes collecting extensive personal data, as indicated by the ongoing research efforts in genomics, psychology, and cognitive science, which explore both individuals' physiological conditions and the internal elements of their mind [9,10].…”

“…This is the essence of PE; the integration of diverse approaches to explore learning from multiple domains (e.g., psychology, sociology, science, engineering) so that individuals' learning difficulties can be identified. Therein, by drawing insights from the rigorous outcomes that have emerged from other disciplines (e.g., psychophysiology and biometrics, genetics and bioengineering), PE presents significant inquiries that connect individuals' biological attributes with their sociocultural background and other environmental factors [9,10].…”

Animal welfare and other ethical implications of Precision Livestock Farming technology

“…This means that each technology generates data relating to a specific parameter, which when accumulated could make it difficult for farmers to interpret and to make effective decisions based on those different results. Thus, more work is needed to demonstrate to farmers that the 'promise' of precision actually translates into practice (Kuch et al 2020;Miles 2019).…”