Weapons of Math Destruction
by Cathy O'Neil · first published 2016
61% recommend37% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
A non-technical look at how opaque algorithms in policing, sentencing, lending, hiring and rankings can launder bias and harm people; suits anyone building or deploying models that affect users.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
<strong>A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life — and threaten to rip apart our social fabric</strong> 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. But as Cathy O’Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true
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…preconditioning of a bad sleep or meal. The automated inference on criminality eliminates the variable of meta-accuracy (the competence of the human judge/examiner) all together. Please, read Weapons of Math Destruction and understand how excellent machine learning is at discovering and exploiting the biases in datasets. Edit, no, sorry, it gets worse: the upper lip curvature is on average 23.4% larger for criminals…
on “Automated Inference on Criminality Using Face Images” ↗…causal link, making an inference based on correlation is unsound. Encoding unsound reasoning in an AI model, particularly when it reinforces an existing social imbalance, would be less than ethical. "Weapons of Math Destruction" by Cathy O'Neil delves into this in more depth. It's a very valid concern, particularly in the way non-technical people are trained over time to give deference to the algorithm.
on “The best defense against malicious AI is AI” ↗…policing which merit rethinking since AI-based injustice so offer bedevils the proprietary lack of transparency in such apps. Another excellent discussion of problems like these is Cathy O'Neil's book "Weapons of Math Destruction". Too bad she couldn't share the Squirrel prize. https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Math-Destruction-Increases-In...
on “Cynthia Rudin wins the 2021 AAAI Squirrel AI Award” ↗…behavior that we didn't expect. Trying to isolate / model a single component of one of these systems is a flawed approach. 11. Chaos monkeys (Antonio Garcia Martinez) - entertaining, but quite long 12. Weapons of math destruction (Cathy O'Neil) - in a way, similar to Thinking in systems, but at an applied level. Shows how rules in modern society can have unintended negative consequences when hidden negative feedback loops emerge…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗For more information about "ethics and algorithms", read: "Weapons of Math Destruction" [1] or at least listen to the EconTalk podcast between the author and host Russ Roberts [2] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Math-Destruction-Increases-In... [2] http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2016/10/cathy_oneil_on_1.ht...
on “Attacking discrimination with smarter machine learning” ↗…racial inequality. Or algorithms that provide sentencing guidelines for convicted felons. Or algorithms that diagnose medical problems. Other writings with somewhat similar themes: - Cathy O'Neil, "Weapons of Math Destruction - How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy"[2] - Eli Pariser, "The Filter Bubble"[3] There doesn't seem a universal term coined that generalizes the ideas in all 4 of those books but…
on “Thinking critically about and researching algorithms [pdf]” ↗Calling BS on big data is really important, but this article is weak. The New Yorker should be doing better. Try Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neill for a much more informed critique. https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Math-Destruction-Increases-In...
on “How to Call B.S. On Big Data: A Practical Guide” ↗Go and read "Weapons of Math Destruction" by Cathy O’Neil. This has an excellent chapter of the use of ATS software the majority of recruiters use these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applicant_tracking_system
on “U.S. Employers Struggle to Match Workers with Open Jobs” ↗Cathy O'Neil wrote a book called "Weapons of Math Destruction" -- interesting read. You can listen to an interview she does on econtalk -- interesting to learn more about the hidden biases. http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2016/10/cathy_oneil_on_1.ht...
on “Ask HN: Any open source code/materials on predicting future crimes based on data?” ↗…giving them a read before getting your pitchforks only due to this article. It's bad and needs to be fixed but a measured response instead of a purely reactionary response will just make things worse. Weapons of Math Destruction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28186015-weapons-of-math... Automating Inequality https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/34964830-automating-i...
on “Digital dystopia: how algorithms punish the poor” ↗…Braiding sweetgrass - biographical story of the mix of native spirituality and science What the eyes don't see - discussion of the policy and governmental resistance to disclosing the Michigan water crisis Weapons of math destruction - the ethical and cultural costs of artificial intelligence at-scale
on “Ask HN: What book(s) had the most impact for you in 2019?” ↗It's not clear from your comment whether or not you're familiar with the book Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil, but you echo many of its main arguments about these types of systems. I can recommend the book if you haven't read it.
on “Are you a 'cultural fit' for your job? Machines can now tell” ↗Mathematician Cathy O'Neil's book "Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy" is a good introduction to the implicit biases in machine learning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_of_Math_Destruction
on “A one-year moratorium on police use of Rekognition” ↗Read Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil. The book explores several ways that's already happening. Her main premise is that there's a feedback loop in many data-driven policies. You only get success results for the things that…
on “Data isn't just being collected from your phone, it's being used to score you” ↗In every conversation like this I always bring up Cathy O'Neil's excellent Weapons of Math Destruction (https://www.bookdepository.com/Weapons-of-Math-Destruction-C...). I think it's an ethical must read for anyone in tech.
on “Ask HN: What do you think about “The Social Dilemma”?” ↗