What's the difference between "slicing" and "slice" in the sentence?

Question

I mean, which is the best form in the context in the semantic term? Or, are both acceptable with little difference of meaning?

(A) The marketing analytics companies perform machine learning procedures, slicing the data in new ways, and resell behavioral data back to product manufacturers as marketing insights.

(B) The marketing analytics companies perform machine learning procedures, slice the data in new ways, and resell behavioral data back to product manufacturers as marketing insights.

Even companies that sell physical products to make profit are forced by their boards and investors to reconsider their underlying motives and to collect as much data as possible from consumers. Supermarkets no longer make all their money selling their produce and manufactured goods. They give you loyalty cards with which they track your purchasing behaviors precisely. Then supermarkets sell this purchasing behavior to marketing analytics companies. The marketing analytics companies perform machine learning procedures, slicing* the data in new ways, and resell behavioral data back to product manufacturers as marketing insights. When data and machine learning become currencies of value in a capitalist system, then every company’s natural tendency is to maximize its ability to conduct surveillance on its own customers because the customers are themselves the new value ­creation devices.

AI and Humanity

Answer 1

In parallelism, if the verb form doesn't match the rest of the items, then it's not at the same nesting level of the items. (Of course, you do have to keep in mind that people often lose track of parallelism, and use different verb forms even though they intend them to all the same level.)

(A):
    1. perform machine learning procedures
        (a) slicing the data in new ways
    2. resell behavioral data

(B):
    1. perform machine learning procedures
    2. slice the data in new ways
    3. resell behavioral data

or

A = [[perform machine learning procedures, slicing the data in new ways], resell behavioral data]
B = [perform machine learning procedures, slice the data in new ways, resell behavioral data]

In (B), "perform machine learning procedures", "slice the data in new ways", and "resell behavioral data" are three list items of actions that companies do. In (A), "perform machine learning procedures" and "resell behavioral data" are two list items of actions that companies do. "slicing the data in new ways" is not presented as a separate list item, but rather an elaboration of "perform machine learning procedures". Slicing the data is an effect, result, concurrent action, or constituent part of performing machine language. Grammatically, "slicing data" functions as an adverbial phrase modifying the verb "perform".

Another example: "I ate some ice cream, savoring every bite, and then washed dishes". "savoring every bite" is an adverbial phrase that modifies "ate". It describes the manner in which I ate ice cream. It isn't a separate action, as opposed to "washed dishes", which is.