''Weapons of Math Destruction'' is a 2016 American book about the societal impact of

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

s, written by

Cathy O'Neil Catherine "Cathy" Helen O'Neil (born 1972) is an American mathematician, data scientist, and author. She is the author of the ''New York Times'' best-seller '' Weapons of Math Destruction'', and opinion columns in Bloomberg View. O'Neil was ac ...

. It explores how some

big data Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...

algorithms are increasingly used in ways that reinforce preexisting

inequality Inequality may refer to: * Inequality (mathematics), a relation between two quantities when they are different. * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups ** Income inequality, an unequal distribution of i ...

. The book was widely reviewed. It was longlisted for the 2016

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...

. and won the

Euler Book Prize The Euler Book Prize is an award named after Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) and given annually at the Joint Mathematics Meetings by the Mathematical Association of America to an outstanding book in mathematics that ...

Overview

O'Neil, a mathematician, analyses how the use of

and

s in a variety of fields, including insurance, advertising, education, and policing, can lead to decisions that harm the poor, reinforce

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, and amplify inequality. According to

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

: She posits that these problematic mathematical tools share three key features: they are opaque, unregulated, and difficult to contest. They are also scalable, thereby amplifying any inherent biases to affect increasingly larger populations. WMDs, or Weapons of Math Destruction, are mathematical algorithms that supposedly take human traits and quantify them, resulting in damaging effects and the perpetuation of bias against certain groups of people.

Reception

The book received widespread praise for elucidating the consequences of reliance on big data models for structuring

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

resources.

Clay Shirky Clay Shirky (born 1964) is an American pundit, writer, and consultant on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies and journalism. In 2017 he was appointed Vice Provost of Educational Technologies of New York University (NYU), aft ...

from

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

said "O'Neil does a masterly job explaining the pervasiveness and risks of the algorithms that regulate our lives," while pointing out that "the section on solutions is weaker than the illustration of the problem".

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

praised the book for being "an unusually lucid and readable" discussion of a technical subject. In 2019, the book won the

of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

References

External links

Presentation by O'Neil on ''Weapons of Mass Destruction'', September 20, 2016

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

{{Authority control 2016 non-fiction books Books about race and ethnicity English-language non-fiction books American non-fiction books Data activism Crown Publishing Group books

Overview

Reception

See also

References

External links