Using Big Data Takes Machines & Humans Man vs. machine – usually, good (man) versus evil (machine) – has long been the stuff of scary science fiction. And now as machines master more advanced processes, the prospect that thinking machines will outperform and ultimately replace thinking humans becomes more real and threatening. Example: IBM’s Watson, an advanced AI machine that’s squared off against Jeopardy’s best human contestants and won.But Arnab Gupta, CEO of Big Data analytics firm Opera Solutions, believes “humans vs. machines” is the wrong construct. Humans PLUS machines is far more powerful. Marrying machines’ ability to discern patterns in Big Data with humans’ ability to derive meaning from this output enables far better decisions. It’s the next wave in productivity.How to accomplish this, when machines and people speak different languages and “think” differently? At SXSW, Arnab will explore the power of “machine + humans” and discuss ways to create collaboration.