Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

by Cathy O'Neil

But the lead aggregators push them toward needless transactions, leaving a good number of them with larger deficits, and even more dependent on public assistance.

Mathematical models should be our tools, not our masters.

The bill currently prohibits medical exams as part of an employment screening. But we need to update it to take into account Big Data personality tests, health scores, and reputation scores.

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Many of these models, like some of the WMDs we’ve discussed, will arrive with the best intentions. But they must also deliver transparency, disclosing the input data they’re using as well as the results of their targeting. And they must be open to audits. These are powerful engines, after all. We must keep our eyes on them.

Algorithmic processes embed values and ethics just as much as any human process; they only seem cleaner because they’re better at hiding that fact.