Scan barcode
zenrobot's review against another edition
4.0
Highly recommended
This book was a hard read, but in a good way. It challenged me to wrap my brain around fields that I don’t know much about (finance specifically), but the author did her best to guide me through it. It was incredibly enlightening to the reason why so many things are the way they are. We seem to accept that the cost of college just keeps going up, and that is just the way it is. As it turns out, a poorly designed algorithm (Weapon of Math Destructions) could be to blame. She dives into the effects of data science on just about every aspect of our lives, and explains what we can do about it. It was a gut punch for sure, but ended with some hope.
This book was a hard read, but in a good way. It challenged me to wrap my brain around fields that I don’t know much about (finance specifically), but the author did her best to guide me through it. It was incredibly enlightening to the reason why so many things are the way they are. We seem to accept that the cost of college just keeps going up, and that is just the way it is. As it turns out, a poorly designed algorithm (Weapon of Math Destructions) could be to blame. She dives into the effects of data science on just about every aspect of our lives, and explains what we can do about it. It was a gut punch for sure, but ended with some hope.
evaward's review against another edition
3.0
Would have appreciated more suggestions of a way forward.
hedyd's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
4.0
A good overview of how data is misused, misinterpreted and driving poor decision making.
george_odera's review against another edition
5.0
It is said that "the road to hell is filled with good intentions", and Cathy O'Neill's Weapons of Math Destruction (WMDs) is a befitting narration of how Big Data fits within this aphorism. In WMD, Cathy argues that math-powered applications powering the data economy are based on choices made by fallible human beings, choices made with the best intentions. Nevertheless, many of these models encode human prejudice, misunderstanding, and bias into the software systems. WMDs harbour 3 elements, namely Opacity, Scale, and Damage, supplemented by a feedback mechanism that may be at times pernicious. The tragedy of WMDs is that are they are deaf not only to charm, threats, and cajoling, but also to logic.
Cathy describes a select number of WMDs in Recidivism models, College rankings, Online advertising, Predictive policing, Employee recruitment, Credit reporting, Insurance policies, and Politics, as well as their destructive effects manifested by astronomical student loans, criminal (in)justice, racial inequality, poverty cycles, and fissures in democracy. These are not mere anecdotes, as Cathy is able to synthesise the destructive effects of WMDs by showing how they breed perverse incentives, yield unintended consequences, and generate pernicious feedback.
Cathy makes a strong case that WMDs present a trade-off between fairness and efficacy, and that mathematical models should be our tools, not our masters. I can't recommend this book enough, as it will prove to be one of the most prescient books of the 21st Century
Cathy describes a select number of WMDs in Recidivism models, College rankings, Online advertising, Predictive policing, Employee recruitment, Credit reporting, Insurance policies, and Politics, as well as their destructive effects manifested by astronomical student loans, criminal (in)justice, racial inequality, poverty cycles, and fissures in democracy. These are not mere anecdotes, as Cathy is able to synthesise the destructive effects of WMDs by showing how they breed perverse incentives, yield unintended consequences, and generate pernicious feedback.
Cathy makes a strong case that WMDs present a trade-off between fairness and efficacy, and that mathematical models should be our tools, not our masters. I can't recommend this book enough, as it will prove to be one of the most prescient books of the 21st Century
hwindow21's review against another edition
4.0
Ever blamed "the system" without knowing, really, what you meant? This book is for you. Actually, this book is for anyone who cares about another person. In clear, compelling prose, O'Neil presents and supports her thesis that math is not unbiased, and demonstrates again and again the way that humans code their own values (predominately profit) into the algorithms that play the role of fate for all of us.
While I understand that current data science scholars may not find this book particularly revolutionary, I'm also grateful that Cathy O'Neil has taken time to use her expertise for making advanced data science accessible. When she concludes that it is up to us-all of us- to demand transparency in data collection processes and hold Big Data accountable for the values it encodes, I really felt included. I can't stop talking about this book with my friends, family, and students. WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION is a wake up call.
While I understand that current data science scholars may not find this book particularly revolutionary, I'm also grateful that Cathy O'Neil has taken time to use her expertise for making advanced data science accessible. When she concludes that it is up to us-all of us- to demand transparency in data collection processes and hold Big Data accountable for the values it encodes, I really felt included. I can't stop talking about this book with my friends, family, and students. WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION is a wake up call.
apfelahmed's review against another edition
3.0
This is just another book that proves that all those smart-ass software applications should not be left unattainable by human supervision and revision.