Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms by Hannah Fry

by Hannah Fry

It provides insights into how AI and algorithms impact our daily lives. Hello World is indispensable preparation for the moral quandaries of a world run by code, and with the unfailingly entertaining Hannah Fry as our guide, we’ll be discussing these issues long after the last page is turned.

Unknown Binding

About the author

Dr Hannah Fry is a lecturer in the Mathematics of Cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL. She works alongside a unique mix of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, architects and geographers to study the patterns in human behaviour - particularly in an urban setting. Her research applies to a wide range of social problems and questions, from shopping and transport to urban crime, riots and terrorism.

Alongside her academic position, Hannah spends many of her days giving conference keynotes and taking the joy of maths into theatres, pubs and schools. She also regularly appears on TV and radio in the UK, most recently on BBC2's Six Degrees and in her own documentary charting the life of Lady Ada Lovelace.

Reviews

[ash | songsforafuturepoet]

Hannah Fry introduces us to algorithms and to thinking about algorithms in her crisp, lighthearted, accessible book. This is definitely something for the uninitiated and may benefit you the most if this is one of your first books about data science. There are no in-depth arguments of any sort, she didn't zero in on any sub-topic; it's a light skim off the frothing issue condensed into something you can read on your commute or before bed.

"It's about asking if an algorithm is having a net benefit on society."

This was the premise of her novel. Fry explored seven key areas of society - Power, Data, Justice, Medicine, Cars, Crime, and Art. Her stance is that algorithms, like any tool, should be viewed and treated as such. We must not forget that we hold control and agency over algorithms, and we can and should continue to be critical of an algorithm's origin, influence, and power. At the same time, we have to be mindful that inevitably, an algorithm can have far reaching and god-like influence over the way we think, the information we receive, and the decisions that we make as a society.

"Perhaps more ominous, given how much of our information we now get from algorithms like search engines, is how much agency people believed they had in their own opinions: 'When people are unaware how are being manipulated, they tend to believe hey have adopted their new thinking voluntarily,' Epstein wrote in the original paper."

As always, I read with a social perspective, and I find it worth noting that, like everything else - our social norms, structures, our states and its policies, our private lives - algorithms reflect our ideologies. Fry detailed how ironically in our attempt to make our judicial system fair through consistency and objectivity, it still reflected (actually, through reflection, consistently and objectively, I'd say) institutional racism and classism. The algorithm merely picks up our pattern of decisions and automates that. In other cases, it could be that the creater of the algorithm used incorrect base data, or didn't think through the real-world consequences of their algorithm before rolling it out.

"For the time being, worrying about evil AI is a bit like worrying about overcrowding on Mars."

And she's right. Worry about what's here now. Encourage discussions and create dialogue. And this is a good book to start with.