Weapons of Math Destruction

How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

De: Cathy O'Neil

Narrado por: Cathy O'Neil

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 Globe • Wired • 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.

Educated and essential

As a single mother about to graduate from college, this information sinks deep. It’s as if I already knew it, but not the whole picture. The history, present state, and future predictions related to analytics, algorithms and how it affects all of our lives is essential for anyone interested in breaking free of the cycles of racism, poverty, unemployment, and poor financial decisions.

Raises great questions and gives context

A valuable overview of the impact of our obsession with trying to predict the future through quantification.

A must-read (listen) for anyone who uses big data to make determinations about how others get to live, work or thrive. A must-read for anyone who’s applied for an education, a loan, a mortgage or a job. (Almost everyone?)

Eye opening

I am glad I now have this info but it is crazy scary. It has helped offer plausible reasons to explain a few things about varying costs for the identical service. Our data is being used against us at every turn and we are financially penalized if we find a way to keep our data private.

interesting read

very interesting. this woman's view on the world and how big data affects us are very compelling.

Eye-opening research!

This book is a must read for data scientists, students, policy makers and others who need a balanced view of the implications of our increasingly data-driven world.