Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
Item
Title
Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
Abstract/Description
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.
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.
Author/creator
Date
Publisher
Penguin Random House
Resource type
Background/Context
Medium
Print
Background/context type
Conceptual
Open access/free-text available
No
Peer reviewed
Yes
ISBN
978-0-553-41883-5
Citation
O’Neil, C. (2017). Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Penguin Random House.
Num pages
290
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