eBook
English language
Published Dec. 3, 2018 by Transworld Publishers Limited.
"Hello World takes us on a tour through the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the algorithms that surround us on a daily basis. Mathematician Hannah Fry reveals their inner workings, showing us how algorithms are written and implemented, and demonstrates the ways in which human bias can literally be written into the code. By weaving in relatable, real world stories with accessible explanations of the underlying mathematics that power algorithms, Hello World helps us to determine their power, expose their limitations, and examine whether they really are improvement on the human systems they replace."--
An enjoyable read, but if you've watched any of her TV shows, especially "The Secret Genius of Modern Life", then you'll already know the contents of the book. It's not pitched at people who know it all already, but more at your ageing Mum who can't work her smartphone. The eBook also seemed to be 35% footnotes, which means you suddenly end the book without realising just how far through it you actually were.
The first thing I have to say is that I love Hannah Fry's voice; the way this was written was so easy to follow because the flow and tone made it feel like a simple but informational conversation rather than a book that talks over your head. It definitely felt like it was written for everyone, regardless of their knowledge about algorithms and how they're used in the world.
There were a lot of things I hadn't heard of (most of which being in the medicine and arts chapters), but it was all really interesting to consider.
Should have been worthy of a higher rating than I am giving. The basic story is there to identify a crisis of giving too much authority to an algorithm. This both helps, but also hinders, logical conclusions to in a messy world.
Compared to other issues going on in the world, and the fact that this will likely be the one and only book I will ever read on the subject, I feel this work is well beyond a working paper but a little light for a full fledged book.
Apologies to all who are offended by the personal opinion of some dumb guy living in a frozen land.
Nice read!
It's hard for me to say anything about this book. I find no fault with it, except that I feel meh about it. On the positive side, at times I felt I'd really like to argue with the author on minor differences of opinion.
The book is really sensible, it's written as to be gripping with human interest in there. I don't fundamentally disagree with anything. I found out new things about machine learning algorithms and their uses I didn't know before. But I still feel like I read a really good pop-sci-journalism piece. I don't know what it is that I wanted there to be to make it "a book" for me.
Purchasable
https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Hannah-Fry/Hello-World--How--to-be-Human-in-the-Age-of-the-Machine/23697113.