Weapons Of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy
  • Weapons Of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy
  • Weapons Of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy
  • Weapons Of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy
ISBN: 0553418815
EAN13: 9780553418811
Language: English
Pages: 272
Dimensions: 1.1" H x 8.3" L x 5.6" W
Weight: 0.9 lbs.
Format: Hardcover
Publisher:
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Book Overview

Longlisted for the National Book Award - New York Times Bestseller

A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life and threaten to rip apart our social fabric.

We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives--where we go to school, whether we get a car loan, how much we pay for health insurance--are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated.

But as Cathy O'Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated, and uncontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination: If a poor student can't get a loan because a lending model deems him too risky (by virtue of his zip code), he's then cut off from the kind of education that could pull him out of poverty, and a vicious spiral ensues. Models are propping up the lucky and punishing the downtrodden, creating a toxic cocktail for democracy. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.

Tracing the arc of a person's life, O'Neil exposes the black box models that shape our future, both as individuals and as a society. These weapons of math destruction score teachers and students, sort r sum s, grant Read More chevron_right

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Book Reviews (8)

5
  |   8  reviews
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5
   great book!
The book gives us valuable insight into the workings of the world's leading companies. I recommend this book highly.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
4
   Good book
Machine Learning and Human Behavior: The Challenges and the Good News for Many That Ends Up In Their Hands. However, the writer has some typos that can be corrected. 0 14622201 This is very serious," said Pauley Mitzna, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
5
   Great simple explanation of the danger of bias in data science
For a technical and non-technical audience equally valuable is how can affect real people lives along not only warnings but proposals for identification and correction of WMDs.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
5
   A much needed cautionary tale
In The Dark Side of AI, Ellison dives into the dark side of data and the technology revolution. A much needed cautionary tale in a time of such unreserved optimism about the power of machines to make our world better, he said. The book shows how easily they can make things worse.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
5
   This book, along with Big Data: A Revolution ...
Big Data: The Science and Technology Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think should be in the libraries of any one trying to be a well informed citizen.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
4
   Great information, but a difficult read.
I found the information to be very interesting and important for everyone to understand, Raymond said. However, the subject can be rather dry and difficult to get through.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
4
   Very interesting perspective with great insights in how many key societal decision are made
Great insights into how many key societal decisions are made, he said. A good read, too. It's probably a bit nerdy to enjoy it, as I did, but an important message all should hear.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
4
   Fun to read. Some data are twisted
Yes, it's great to read. But some data are especially trying to politically correct, said Dr. Steve Davis, who heads the NIH's Data Science unit.
 
Recommended to buy: Yes
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