Weapons of Math Destruction Weapons of Math Destruction

Weapons of Math Destruction

How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

    • 4.3 • 75 Ratings
    • $13.99
    • $13.99

Publisher Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A former Wall Street quant sounds the alarm on Big Data and the mathematical models that threaten to rip apart our social fabric—with a new afterword
 
“A manual for the twenty-first-century citizen . . . relevant and urgent.”—Financial Times
 
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review The Boston GlobeWired • Fortune • Kirkus Reviews • The Guardian • Nature • On Point
 
We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules.
 
But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination—propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.

GENRE
Politics & Current Events
RELEASED
2016
September 6
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
272
Pages
PUBLISHER
Crown
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
3
MB

Customer Reviews

Music carnivore ,

Engaging and informative

This book was filled with examples of weapons of math destruction in a variety of fields, which made it accessible and interesting. It also explained things without using much jargon, which made it an easy read. It’s premises were backed by facts and statistics, and it’s argument was persuasive.

Richard Bakare ,

Peaking Behind the Curtain of Data Science

Cathy O’Neils work illuminates all of the problems with poorly thought out Algorithms and Models (Weapons of Math Destruction), when unleashed on an unsuspecting public, can deepen divides, falsely reaffirm prejudices, and compound social ills in the pursuit of efficacy. In clear and well written language, O’Neil spells out for the layman and experienced Data Scientist alike, the definition of a Weapon of Math Destruction and its key traits. She also does a great job of providing clear and actionable ways we can spot, prevent, and hold these models accountable. I believe this book is essential reading for everyone in our modern data driven culture. Reminding the builders of their fiduciary responsibility to uphold fairness in their modeling design; and teaching the Everyman how to spot the models and data gathering being applied to them. Wonderfully written and commanding.

D kell ,

Timely and wonderful

This is a wonderful book. You don’t have to love math in order to appreciate the challenges we face in using our vast and expanding computing power for good, while avoiding the bad.

More Books by Cathy O'Neil

On Being a Data Skeptic On Being a Data Skeptic
2013
Doing Data Science Doing Data Science
2013
The Shame Machine The Shame Machine
2022
Algoritmos de Destruição em Massa Algoritmos de Destruição em Massa
2021
Armas de destrucción matemática Armas de destrucción matemática
2018
A máquina da vergonha A máquina da vergonha
2024

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