1. Information becomes Knowledge

The next level up from collecting information is having wisdom - the capability of understanding the relationship between pieces of information and what to actually do with the information.

This ability is called Knowledge

Consider this scenario: Person puts a finger into very hot water.

Data gathered: Finger nerves sends pain data to the brain.

Processing: Brain considers the data and comes up with...

Information: Painful finger means it is not in a good place.

Action: Brain tells finger to remove itself from hot water.

Knowledge: Sticking finger in hot water is a bad idea.

Knowledge is having an understanding of the "rules".

 

Computers gain knowledge...

Now that computer systems have become so powerful, some have been designed to make use of information in a knowledgeable way.

These machines are called 'Expert systems'. Some have been designed with a specific task in mind - such as 'Deep Blue' playing world champion level chess.

Perhaps a more fruitful avenue of research is the application of expert systems to medical diagnosis. The system is loaded with information pertaining to diseases so that is can consider what is likely to be the cause of an illness given the facts about  a case. However, even the most advanced machine can only be considered a helpful assistant in the matter of wisdom.