TO extrapolate how far banks and other financial institutions could go with Big Data, one senior DBS executive once illustrated it to this reporter this way: If data analytics predicted that bankers who were former ACS students were more effective at targeting customers who were once their schoolmates, banks could, in theory, deliberately hire ex-ACS students and define sales targets such that they go after other ex-ACS boys - or customers from segments of society or "particular addresses".

Just to be clear, DBS does not do this. But the illustration shows the dangers of technology creating a more reductionist society, one that more narrowly defines and quantifies the worth of each human being. As Singapore looks to unwind the stigma of an average PSLE result, it is also facing a brave new world of Big Data that could run amok. In that world, those three digits may form a tattoo that brands one's trajectory in life from age 12.

Such a reading has dystopian shades. But regulators have stepped up the debate on the ethical pitfalls of both Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI). The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has begun its work in this area. The Business Times reported in November that MAS has engaged the financial industry on ways to form regulatory guidelines in this space.