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In 1996, the supercomputer ‘Deep Blue’, capable of evaluating over 200 million positions a second, beat reigning chess champion Garry Kasparov. Thirty years on, AI is the new king. But what if we could take all that power and apply it not to a game of chess, but to global health?

 

Perhaps an algorithm could analyze all the options and pick the best move for us. It would transform the lives of a billion people with no access to health care. But what, and who, is lost in the number crunching?

 

The Life Equation is a documentary that explores this question. Watch the film here. Or scroll down for the interactive.

In 1996, the supercomputer ‘Deep Blue’, capable of evaluating over 200 million positions a second, beat reigning chess champion Garry Kasparov. Thirty years on, AI is the new king. But what if we could take all that power and apply it not to a game of chess, but to global health?

 

Perhaps an algorithm could analyze all the options and pick the best move for us. It would transform the lives of a billion people with no access to health care. But what, and who, is lost in the number crunching?

 

The Life Equation is a documentary that explores this question. Watch the film here. Or scroll down for the interactive.

JOSE’S DILEMMA

José is a new kind of health worker. He has no medical training; his skills are language and logistics. His job is to connect sick, impoverished Guatemalans with the care they need.

When he meets Crecencia, a mother of seven with late-stage cervical cancer, he faces a daunting question. The price tag to treat her disease is almost $10,000. And at best, it will buy only a few years of life. That money could instead fund a thousand pap smears — a cost-effective way of catching cancer before it’s too late.

What would you do? Take the poll to see how your answer compares to others.

Should Jose's organization fund Crecencia's treatment?

Should Jose's organization fund Crecencia's treatment?

Jose’s dilemma seems impossible, but now there’s a way to make this decision: powerful computers can crunch the numbers and determine which interventions deliver the most bang for the buck.

This Big Data approach gives economists an eagle-eye view so that health care can be focused on where it’s most effective. But on the ground, health professionals don’t treat statistics, they treat patients.

“It’s urgent we understand this prevailing ideology of cost-effectiveness, because it has terrifying real-life consequences.”

PAUL FARMER

“It’s urgent we understand this prevailing ideology of cost-effectiveness, because it has terrifying real-life consequences.”

PAUL FARMER

“I base my ethics on what produces the greatest possible reduction in suffering. The best way of doing that is by getting a lot of data.”

PETER SINGER

“Human rights are a nice slogan that can convey the idea that something is important. But I base my ethics on what produces the greatest possible reduction in suffering. The best way of doing that is by getting a lot of data.”

PETER SINGER

Journey deep into the world of Big Data, and into the homes and hospitals where patients and doctors fight to avoid becoming another statistic.

CHAPTERS

A woman goes under the knife in one of the first C-sections performed in a remote corner of Nepal.
THE BIG QUESTION
Big Data offers a roadmap to health that could impact millions of lives.
BIG DATA
Should we give only to charities who can prove with data that they deliver the most bang for the buck?
EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM
In Guatemala, how does a Big Data approach hold up when a statistic becomes a story?
THE LADY BY THE LAKE
THE BIG QUESTION
BIG DATA
EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM
THE LADY BY THE LAKE
THE BIG QUESTION
BIG DATA
EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM
THE LADY BY THE LAKE

CONTINUE

Get started… The Big Question.