Big data and professionals: What we can learn from Michael Polanyi

A physician, a noted chemist, a famous social scientist and philosopher, Hungarian-born Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) is known today primarily for his original conception of tacit knowing (aka, misleadingly, “tacit knowledge”), which is presented hereby in order to show why and how working professionals cannot be replaced in toto by machines, no matter how sophisticated these machines may be. In particular, as professionals are concerned, Polanyi’s theory of knowledge can help us understand why and how they may be plausibly supplanted by automated systems with respect to specific activities, but not vis-à-vis their apt creation, operational assessment and responsible application.