One misconception you might have right now is the objective nature of computer algorithms. Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction first shows you the pinnacle of algorithm objectivity: baseball. Baseball math and algorithms are transparent, measure the event, and are responsive to feedback.

Then, O’Neil pans the camera away to the horror of algorithms that are opaque, rely on proxies, and rarely incorporate feedback: education, finance, mortgages, predictive policing, recidivism, and insurance.

Computer algorithms do not turn their inputs into objective facts. Computer algorithms amplify the biases of the programmer and the dataset. We need to develop a societal understanding of the tools that automate our lives or we’ll forever be manipulated by them.

“Late at night, a police officer finds a drunk man crawling around on his hands and knees under a streetlight. The drunk man tells the officer he’s looking for his wallet. When the officer asks if he’s sure this is where he dropped the wallet, the man replies that he thinks he more likely dropped it across the street. Then why are you looking over here? the befuddled officer asks. Because the light’s better here, explains the drunk man” (Source: these exact words have 88 Google results).

Weapons of Math Destruction: slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1357767116