Collective intelligence pros and cons

Collective Intelligence is the combined knowledge and problem-solving ability of a group, arising from the collaboration of many people, usually through the Internet.

Pros

1. Wide knowledge and diverse views give better solutions.
2. Better decisions - the "wisdom of the crowd" averages out individual errors (in estimates and predictions).
3. Speed and scale - large problems are divided among many contributors.
4. Low cost - volunteers or users supply content (Wikipedia, open source).
5. Innovation - crowdsourced ideas and design contests.
6. Self-correcting and kept up to date by many contributors.
7. Participation and engagement of employees and customers.

Cons

1. Quality and accuracy issues - misinformation, vandalism and bias.
2. Groupthink and herd behaviour - people copy the majority.
3. Manipulation - fake reviews, bots, spam, trolls.
4. Privacy and legal issues - copyright, ownership of contributions.
5. Needs moderation and coordination, which cost effort.
6. Unequal participation - a few active users dominate.
7. Difficulty in accountability - nobody is responsible for errors.

Examples

• Wikipedia, open-source software (Linux), Stack Overflow, Google Maps and Waze traffic reports, online product reviews, prediction markets, crowdfunding (Kickstarter).
• Failures: fake reviews on shopping sites and rumours spread on social media.