DATA DRIVEN... and frankly, we’re sick of it

Growing up as Gen X, we were told that the most valuable resource of the future would be information. At the time... raised on early TV, clunky desktop computers, and dial-up internet tones screeching like tortured robots... the idea seemed preposterous.

And yet here we are in 2025. The internet matured, social media disrupted our social lives, and AI... the ultimate data-devouring machine... now shapes everything from how we work to what we think. Suddenly, the idea that data (not information) is the new oil makes perfect sense. Data has become the world’s new insidiously mined resource.

But what does that really mean for the average person?

Take something as mundane as cloud storage. My Google Drive is full. I have multiple other cloud accounts, also full. And the real question is: why?

What exactly are we storing... and how valuable is it really?

For a generation that watched the digital age begin, the ability to store everything felt like a victory against the limitations of filing cabinets and dusty photo albums. Now, that victory feels like a psychological burden. This accumulation...thousands of unused apps, duplicate photos, unread newsletters, and disorganised documents is digital clutter...and we have all become hoarders!

Unlike physical clutter, which takes up visible space and forces us to confront it, digital clutter hides. Storage feels cheap and endless, so we default to saving everything "just in case." The unseen mess exists because we let it:  Every file, photo, or email we save represents a choice we made out of convenience. We're simply too lazy to confront the truth that much of what we are saving is junk... a chaotic archive that does have mounting costs that might be to heavy to bear. Think data centres, think water and electricity consumption, think planet. Put this way, its not really cheap at all, is it?

We are beginning to understand that we are the product. Fine. But if that’s true, what are we offering besides our attention and our increasingly predictable behavior patterns? Tech isn’t extracting diamonds from us... it’s designed to keep us locked in and logged in.

This isn't an accident; it's intentional design. Tech engineers have essentially hacked this primal reward loop by turning social interaction into a series of unpredictable, intermittent rewards...Every notification ping, every 'like,' every comment, and every endless scroll of new content delivers a small, powerful dopamine hit. This creates a compulsive loop that keeps you checking, refreshing, and engaging, even when you know it's not truly valuable. The big innovation of the century is not enlightenment or progress... it’s targeted ads and attention capture.

In tech terms, data is raw input. Meaningless until processed.

Information is the shaped, contextual, useful output.

And yet, today data seems to be valued more than information. Why?

Because information has become polluted. The lines between fact and falsehood have blurred intentionally. Fake news, conspiracy rabbit holes, and algorithm-amplified nonsense have created a landscape where truth is negotiable and expertise is optional. Every opinion can masquerade as knowledge, and somehow, everyone thinks they’re qualified to give medical advice because they watched a video.

You don’t get to bypass years of study because the algorithm rewarded your confidence. Sure, follow your own DIY health plan... but don’t broadcast it as medical fact.

I would much rather our brightest minds and most powerful tools be used to cure cancer, prevent hypertension, slow aging, expand scientific discovery, and unlock deeper creativity.

Instead, we got influencers spouting AI-generated content, and automated customer service loops that make you fantasise about living off-grid.

I don’t want a robot maid.

I don’t want AI telling me how to feel.

I don’t need a digital “best friend.”

Tell me where to find the best pizza within five miles and help me get unlost when I miss an exit... that’s it. I’ll order and collect my own damn pizza, thanks.

I am tired of data. Tired of endless uploading and scrolling and consuming and being told its progress. I want knowledge, not content; information, not distraction.
I want debate, discovery, wonder... to sit in front of a real work of art, hear an original idea, be startled by brilliance that didn’t come from a prompt.

We are not binary strings.
We are not 0101010101.

Our DNA Code is infinitely more complex, beautiful, and mysterious,  and no tech bro with a hoodie will ever come close to out-engineering the Master.

Let 2026 be the year we stop worshipping efficiency and convenience for their own sake. Let tech solve real problems again, not invent artificial needs. Let us remember that life is not a dataset, it is messy, emotional, unpredictable, and surprising.

Machines compute. Humans live.

And we deserve a world where that still means something.