Weapons of math destruction

how big data increases inequality and threatens democracy

par Cathy O'Neil

Paperback, 259 pages

Langue : English

Publié 16 novembre 2016 par Allen Lane.

ISBN :: 978-0-241-29681-3
Numéro OCLC :: 958464372

(6 critiques)

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 loan, how much we pay for 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. And yet, as Cathy O'Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated, and incontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination. 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 CVs, grant or deny loans, evaluate workers, target voters, and monitor our health. O'Neil calls on modellers 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.

10 editions

Autiste à Vaud L'eau reviewed Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil

An absolut must-read for a world emprisoned in a golden cage

5 étoiles

If you wish to understand better what is at stakes with the algorithms and the global digital maze we seem to be prisoner of, then, this is a must read. Cathy O'Neil very clearly unravel the intricate technical, philosophical, political and socioeconomic logic at play. She shows how they work together to force an even more violent neoliberalism in every area of our daily lives, whether social, cultural, professional, judiciary, educational or political and economic. It is both quite scary and at the same time empowering, as it gives us the basics to look for collective ways to progressively get out of the maze we've lost ourselves in. As the say goes, knowledge is power, and I believe it has never been more true than today.

I would recommend to read it along Shoshana Zuboff's (bookwyrm.social/author/39159/s/shoshana-zuboff) "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" (bookwyrm.social/book/260163/s/the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism). They nicely complement each …

jkb@books.theunseen.city reviewed Weapons of math destruction by Cathy O'Neil

Suit up for Combat!

5 étoiles

This was an exceptional book. It's not heavy into statistics but gives the rationale for what is a WMD (Weapon of Math Destruction) and WMDs maybe a new term but we have been under the exploitation of WMDs well before we think. It's not a new phenomenon but it is one that we should be aware of.

Take a read and learn how about them so that we can all do better to combat them and use math to not only help describe the world but make it a better place to live in.

loppear reviewed Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil

Soon to feel dated, yet plenty to shock.

4 étoiles

The misuse of mathematical models to punish mostly the poor through opaque and ubiquitous scoring, built on proxied data and mushy questions without feedback or recourse or oversight. Thorough examples across life, with consequential analysis.

b bennett reviewed Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil

Review of 'Weapons of Math Destruction' on 'Goodreads'

5 étoiles

My greatest Twitter achievement is that I raved about this book in a tweet and Cathy O'Neil liked it. Maybe I was easily persuaded by O'Neil's writing because I'm an aspiring data scientist hell bent on working for social good. Maybe it's because I've spent years in social justice activism. Or maybe it's because this is just a damn good book. O'Neil walks us through several algorithms wreaking havoc on society -- from hiring to scheduling to performance evaluations. Even if you, like me, were craving more technical material, O'Neil name drops the algorithms and you can simply do a quick Google search on them. This is the kind of popular data science book we need.