Hannah Fry

An eye-opening read. Prof. Fry examines AI/machine learning in a variety of fields (e.g. medicine, justice, art), highlighting positives and negatives of their use. Being a fan of hers, I had already heard quite a few of the stories, but the written format allows for more detail. Also interesting - it was her voice I heard in my head while reading.
Technology has advanced since this book was written in 2018, but I believe the conclusions remain valid. Any savings/enhancements due to these technologies likely come at a cost, and society needs to keep this in mind when judging their worth. Also, many of these advancements work best in conjunction with humans, not by replacing them.… (mehr)

Great read! This caught my eye as it was passing through the library on its way to fill a patron’s hold. I think I had algorithms Sorry, Brittany.Not really. on my mind because of the class I’m taking this semester. I can’t say the cover or title is anything that would fill me with excitement—although once she explained the title, it made me smile and say, “Ohhh”—but for whatever reason, I placed a hold for myself.
From start to finish, I loved this book. It’s accessible for scientific/mathematical Muggles (among whom I humbly count myself), and it’s fascinating.
Fry has a giant brain. I started following her on Twitter while I was reading this, and I could not make heads or tails of the first tweet of hers I saw (except for the part that said “FFS”—I learned what that meant earlier this year). So I appreciated the fact that she wrote this book at a level I could follow and enjoy. Her many examples and sense of humor made the subject matter more interesting to me than it already was.
Each chapter discusses how algorithms are used in a specific area of our lives: medicine, cars, crime, justice, etc. The implications of how prevalent and trusted they can be is discussed in both positive and negative terms. It’s not a watch-out-the-computers-are-going-to-take-over-and-destroy-us kind of book, but she does take a hard look at what can go wrong with this technology.
It’s threaded throughout the book, but her conclusion is not based on a one-or-the-other mentality, like humans vs. technology. It’s more exploring an idea of the two complementing each other—“The algorithm and the human work together in partnership, exploiting each other’s strengths and embracing each other’s flaws.”
This was a fun book to read. I felt like I learned a lot, and it didn’t hurt one bit.… (mehr)