Weapons of Math Destruction

"The root of the trouble, as with so many other WMD's, is the modeler's choice of objectives. The Model is optimized for for efficiency and profitability, not for justice or the good of the 'team.' This is, of course, the nature of capitalism. For companies, revenue is like oxygen."

Makes sense but keep in mind donations and getting elected are the oxygen that politicians live by.

"While Facebook may feel like a modern town square, the company determines, according to their own interests, what we see and learn on its social network... By tweaking its algorithm and molding the news we see, can Facebook game the political system."

"And Facebook is not the only company to weld it. Other publicly held corporations, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon and cell phone providers like Verizon and AT&T, and have information of much of humanity."

"George W. Bush, after all, won in 2000 by a margin of 537 votes in Florida. The activity of a single Facebook algorithm on Election Day, it's clear, could not only change the balance of Congress but also decide the Presidency."

Cathy O'Neil's Weapons of Math Destruction came out in 2016. You can't say she didn't try to warn us. 

Weapons of Math Destruction

"Publicists for a Judd Apatow movie, for example, could target males from age eighteen to twenty-eight in the fifty richest zip codes, perhaps zeroing in on those who have clicked or 'liked' Apatow's hit movie Trainwreck, have mentioned him on Twitter, or are friends with someone who has."

"But for many direct marketers, when they're operating on the Internet or through the mail, a 1% response rate is the stuff of dreams. After all, they're working with huge numbers. One percent of the US population is more than three million people."

Interesting look at how algorithms have become a part of our daily lives.

Weapons of Math Destruction

"Like gods, these mathematical models are opaque, their workings invisible to all but the highest priests in their domain: mathematicians and computer scientists. Their verdicts, even when wrong or hurtful, were beyond dispute or appeal. And they tended to punish the poor and oppressed in our society, while making the rich richer.

I came up with the name for these harmful kinds of models: Weapons of Math Destruction, or WMPD's for short." - Cathy O'Neil

Just started Cathy O'Neil's Weapons of Math Destruction and will keep you posted.