Weapons of Math Destruction

How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

by Cathy O'Neil

Published April 15, 2017 by Penguin.

ISBN:: 978-0-14-198541-1

(3 reviews)

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.

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

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 résumés, 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.

— Longlist for National Book Award (Non-Fiction) — Goodreads, semi-finalist for the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards (Science and Technology) — Kirkus, Best Books of 2016 — New York Times, 100 Notable Books of 2016 (Non-Fiction) — The Guardian, Best Books of 2016 — WBUR’s “On Point,” Best Books of 2016: Staff Picks — Boston Globe, Best Books of 2016, Non-Fiction

13 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 stars

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 stars

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.

.mau. reviewed Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O'Neil

Review of 'Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Cathy O'Neil, nota in rete come MathBabe, dopo la laurea in matematica e un inizio di carriera universitaria è passata al settore privato nel campo dell'economia, e si è trovata in mezzo alla crisi del 2008. Il risultato della sua rivisitazione di quello che è successo l'ha portata a scrivere questo libro, che trovate anche in edizione italiana, sulle "armi di distruzione matematica" (ADM). Chi è allergico alle formule non tema, perché qui non ce ne sono per nulla. Quello che viene spiegato in teoria ed esemplificato in vari modi è il concetto di cui al titolo: in poche parole si tratta di modelli matematici complessi, spesso legati ai big data o comunque a dati che non nascono direttamente per quella ragione, che risultano oscuri agli esseri umani e soprattutto sono fatti in modo da non accettare feedback a posteriori. Quest'ultima è la vera caratteristica che secondo O'Neil li rende pericolosi, a differenza per esempio dei modelli matematici nel baseball che possono sempre venire raffinati una volta visto cosa è successo. L'autrice mostra come invece nel caso delle ADM si giunge quasi naturalmente a un circolo vizioso nel quale chi parte svantaggiato dal modello lo sarà sempre di più, anche se magari in partenza la sua situazione reale era positiva e solo la scelta dei dati del modello non lo faceva sembrare tale. L'unica pecca che ho visto è che nonostante i suoi sforzi divulgativi temo che ci sarebbe voluto ancora qualcosa in più per evidenziare i concetti statistici di base: dal mio punto di vista erano chiari, ma io ho un background matematico.