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Weapons of Math Destruction How Big Data Increases Inequality & Threatens Democracy

by Cathy ONeil
Weapons of Math Destruction How Big Data Increases Inequality & Threatens Democracy

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ISBN13: 9780553418811
ISBN10: 0553418815



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Synopses & Reviews

Synopsis

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 resumes, grant (or deny) loans, evaluate workers, target voters, set parole, and monitor our health.
O Neil calls on modelers to take more responsibility for their algorithms and on policy makers to regulate their use. But in the end, it s up to us to become more savvy about the models that govern our lives. This important book empowers us to ask the tough questions, uncover the truth, and demand change."

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Average customer rating 5 (1 comments)

`
Erinwithans , April 03, 2017 (view all comments by Erinwithans)
This book is a must read in today's data-driven world. It breaks down how bias in current practices get encoded into algorithms that are complicated, opaque, and continue and increase the same biases, but now under the guise of of objective computer equations. From predictive policing and projected recidivism rates to standardized testing as a tool in grading teachers, it explores how and why entrusting these calculations to computers continues and even amplifies the existing biases and blind spots to uphold existing systems of oppression and discrimination. It's a fascinating read, with advanced concepts broken down into easy to understand language, with ideas of how to improve the systems we're relying on more and more.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780553418811
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
09/06/2016
Publisher:
CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP INC
Pages:
272
Height:
.90IN
Width:
5.80IN
Author:
Cathy ONeil
Author:
Cathy O'Neil
Author:
Cathy O'Neil

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