I really enjoy books like this that share the logic (algorithms) behind the success of many popular marketing and business models. Unfortunately, US government programs are a prime target (but useful example) of how the weapons of math play out. Great read.
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Must read, especially for students of engineering and computer science
This is a thoughtful and very approachable introduction and review to the societal and personal consequences of data mining, data science, and machine learning practices which seem at times extraordinarily successful. While others have breached the barriers of this subject, Professor O'Neil is the first to deal with it in the call-to-action manner it deserves. This is a book you should definitely read this year, especially if you are a parent. It should be required reading for anyone who practices in the field before beginning work.I have a few quibbles about the book's observations based on its very occasional leaps of logic and some quick interpretations of history.For example, while I wholeheartedly deplore the pervasive use of e-scores and a financing system which confounds absence of information with higher risk (that is, fails to posit and apply proper Bayesian priors), the sentence "But framing debt as a moral issue is a mistake", while correct, ignores the widespread practice of debtors courts and prisons in the history of the United States. This is really not something new, only a new form. Perhaps it is more pervasive.For a few of the cases used to illustrate WMDs, there are other social changes which exacerbate matters, rather than abused algorithms being a cause. For instance, the idea of individual home ownership was not such a Big Deal in the past, especially for people without substantial means. These less fortunate individuals resigned themselves to renting their entire lives. Having a society and a group of banks pushing home ownership onto people who can barely afford it sets them up for financial hardship, loss of home, and credit.What will be interesting to see is where the movement to fix these serious problems will go. Protests are good and necessary but, eventually, engagement with the developers of actual or potential WMDs is required. An Amazon review is not a place to write more of this, nor give some of my ideas. Accordingly, I have written a full review at my blog (see the image) for the purpose.My primary recommendation is a plea for rigorous testing of anything which could become a WMD. It's apparent these systems touch the lives of many people. Just as in the case of transportation systems, it seems to me that we as a society have very right to demand these systems be similarly tested, beyond the narrow goals of the companies who are building them. This will result in fewer being built, but, as Dr O'Neil has described, building fewer bad systems can only be a good thing.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2025
- Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2017
- Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2016
Must read, especially for students of engineering and computer scienceThis is a thoughtful and very approachable introduction and review to the societal and personal consequences of data mining, data science, and machine learning practices which seem at times extraordinarily successful. While others have breached the barriers of this subject, Professor O'Neil is the first to deal with it in the call-to-action manner it deserves. This is a book you should definitely read this year, especially if you are a parent. It should be required reading for anyone who practices in the field before beginning work.
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2016
I have a few quibbles about the book's observations based on its very occasional leaps of logic and some quick interpretations of history.
For example, while I wholeheartedly deplore the pervasive use of e-scores and a financing system which confounds absence of information with higher risk (that is, fails to posit and apply proper Bayesian priors), the sentence "But framing debt as a moral issue is a mistake", while correct, ignores the widespread practice of debtors courts and prisons in the history of the United States. This is really not something new, only a new form. Perhaps it is more pervasive.
For a few of the cases used to illustrate WMDs, there are other social changes which exacerbate matters, rather than abused algorithms being a cause. For instance, the idea of individual home ownership was not such a Big Deal in the past, especially for people without substantial means. These less fortunate individuals resigned themselves to renting their entire lives. Having a society and a group of banks pushing home ownership onto people who can barely afford it sets them up for financial hardship, loss of home, and credit.
What will be interesting to see is where the movement to fix these serious problems will go. Protests are good and necessary but, eventually, engagement with the developers of actual or potential WMDs is required. An Amazon review is not a place to write more of this, nor give some of my ideas. Accordingly, I have written a full review at my blog (see the image) for the purpose.
My primary recommendation is a plea for rigorous testing of anything which could become a WMD. It's apparent these systems touch the lives of many people. Just as in the case of transportation systems, it seems to me that we as a society have very right to demand these systems be similarly tested, beyond the narrow goals of the companies who are building them. This will result in fewer being built, but, as Dr O'Neil has described, building fewer bad systems can only be a good thing.
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Top reviews from other countries
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Diogo B.Reviewed in Brazil on January 8, 2025
A antessala da IA (Machine Learning)
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Jesus SalasReviewed in Mexico on October 31, 2021
Matemáticas de destrucción masiva
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