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Friday, June 22, 2018
Announcement: This Week At The Science Circle: "Big Data: Road to the Future or Just Weapons of Math Destruction?"
"Big Data: Road to the Future or Just Weapons of Math Destruction?"
Saturday June 23
10 AM - 11 AM PDT
By Professor Giuseppe Longo
Big Data are like the God Janus: on the one end they offer great advantages, make our lives easier by offering us unlimited possibility to better organize our work and our everyday life; they allow us to achieve a better understanding of the world around us and can be used to monitor and control the environment, in practice they are changing our world and our lives in ways which would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
On the other end, however, if ill used -either by negligence or on purpose- they can become “Weapons of Math Destruction” leading to wrong decisions which can badly affect the weakest and poorest part of our society. The Data Anlytics phenomenon is only the most recent case of misuse of big data.
More information about Giuseppe's presentation at https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/big-data-weapons-of-math-destruction/
The Science Circle (61/126/32)
O’Neil presents many examples of ways in which algorithms are being used and often misused in many parts of society. Writing in a conversational style, she keeps her outrage at some practices on a steady simmer throughout the book. Her plea is that we need fairness and accountability in the application of mathematical models. She explores the use of models by schools, courts, credit providers, employers and others. If your mind is open to the possibility that aspects of “fact-based” analysis or the application of big data might be detrimental, be sure to read this book.
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