Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine - Hardcover

Fry, Hannah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857525247 ISBN 13: 9780857525246

Publisher: Doubleday, 2018

Synopsis

Shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Investment Science Book Prize and 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize.

‘One of the best books yet written on data and algorithms. . .deserves a place on the bestseller charts.’ (The Times)

You are accused of a crime. Who would you rather determined your fate – a human or an algorithm?
An algorithm is more consistent and less prone to error of judgement. Yet a human can look you in the eye before passing sentence.

Welcome to the age of the algorithm, the story of a not-too-distant future where machines rule supreme, making important decisions – in healthcare, transport, finance, security, what we watch, where we go even who we send to prison. So how much should we rely on them? What kind of future do we want?

Hannah Fry takes us on a tour of the good, the bad and the downright ugly of the algorithms that surround us. In Hello World she lifts the lid on their inner workings, demonstrates their power, exposes their limitations, and examines whether they really are an improvement on the humans they are replacing.

A BBC RADIO 4: BOOK OF THE WEEK

About this title

Review

"A stylish, thoughtful, and scrupulously fair-minded account of what the software that increasingly governs our lives can and cannot do ... A beautifully accessible guide that leaps lightly from one story to the next without sparing the reader hard questions... deserves a place in the bestseller charts." (Oliver Moody The Times)

"With refreshing simplicity, Fry explains what AI, machine learning and complicated algorithms really mean, providing some succinct explanations of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, driverless cars and many other unnerving modern phenomena...This book illustrates why good science writers are essential." (Katy Guest Guardian)

"Brilliantly clear...Fry succinctly outlines the ethical issues that beset AI" (James McConnaiche Sunday Times)

"Hello World is a gem of accessible science writing. With eloquence and charm, Hannah Fry outlines the maths of computer algorithms and explains how they are transforming fields such as health, justice, transport and the arts. She is a wise guide to the benefits - and horrors of our increasingly data-driven world." (Alex Bellos, author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland)

"Expertly told, wise and with a lightness of touch, Hannah Fry's brilliant exploration of how we live our lives in the age of AI will prompt arguments in pubs and over dinner tables for years to come." (Adam Rutherford)

"Computers used to be tools, then they were toys, and now they're all around us. You couldn't ask for a better guide to this bewildering new world than Hannah Fry, who fills Hello World with wit, storytelling and superbly clear insight. Bravo!" (Tim Harford, author and presenter of The Undercover Economist and more recently Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy.)

"Hannah Fry's masterful and entertaining call to arms needs to be read by every last human who unthinkingly entrusts our destiny to algorithms. Because, what do you know, the machine-determined future may just work against our best interests, people." (David Rowan, Founder editor of WIRED UK)

"Hello World is an action-packed, quick read during which you will be outraged, provoked, and challenged. The numerous, meticulously researched examples reveal the astonishing new world we're living in, one where secret decisions with ambiguous goals are deciding our individual and collective fates. Welcome to the modern world of big data, you're quite possibly screwed." (Cathy O'Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction)

"Hello World is a brisk and friendly guidebook to the algorithms all around us" (Jordan Ellenberg)

"Editor's Choice: consistently illuminating" (Caroline Sanderson The Bookseller)

Book Description

Hannah Fry takes us on a tour through the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the algorithms that surround us. In Hello World she lifts the lid on their inner workings, demonstrates their power, exposes their limitations, and examines whether they really are an improvement on the humans they replace.

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0857525247
• ISBN 13: 9780857525246
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256