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

by Cathy O'Neil

Mathematicians didn’t pretend to foresee the fate of each individual. That was unknowable. But they could predict the prevalence of accidents, fires, and deaths within large groups of people. Over the following three centuries, a vast insurance industry grew around these predictions. The new industry gave people, for the first time, the chance to pool their collective risk, protecting individuals when misfortune struck. Now, with the evolution of data science and networked computers, insurance is facing fundamental change. With ever more information available—including the data from our genomes, the patterns of our sleep, exercise, and diet, and the proficiency of our driving—insurers will increasingly calculate risk for the individual and free themselves from the generalities of the larger pool. For many, this is a welcome change. A health enthusiast today can demonstrate, with data, that she sleeps eight hours a night, walks ten miles a day, and eats little but green vegetables, nuts, and fish oil. Why shouldn’t she get a break on her health insurance?