Description

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



"A beautifully accessible guide.…One of the best books yet written on data and algorithms." —Times (UK)

If you were accused of a crime, who would you rather decide your sentence—a mathematically consistent algorithm incapable of empathy or a compassionate human judge prone to bias and error? What if you want to buy a driverless car and must choose between one programmed to save as many lives as possible and another that prioritizes the lives of its own passengers? And would you agree to share your family’s full medical history if you were told that it would help researchers find a cure for cancer?

These are just some of the dilemmas that we are beginning to face as we approach the age of the algorithm, when it feels as if the machines reign supreme. Already, these lines of code are telling us what to watch, where to go, whom to date, and even whom to send to jail. But as we rely on algorithms to automate big, important decisions—in crime, justice, healthcare, transportation, and money—they raise questions about what we want our world to look like. What matters most: Helping doctors with diagnosis or preserving privacy? Protecting victims of crime or preventing innocent people being falsely accused?

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.

About the Author

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Hannah Fry is the author of Hello World. With Adam Rutherford, she hosts the BBC Radio 4 show The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry. She lives in London.

Praise For…

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With refreshing simplicity, Fry explains what AI, machine learning and complicated algorithms really mean.
— Guardian

Fascinating and funny. I learned something on every page.
— Tom Chivers - Buzzfeed

An action-packed read during which you will be outraged, provoked, and challenged.
— Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction

This short, sharp book on the power and dangers of algorithms offers one of the clearest explanations of a complex subject.
— Financial Times

Hannah Fry is one of the best STEM explainers and popularizers today.
— Forbes

For a reader unfamiliar with the technical aspects of AI, this book offers among the best lay explanations of how algorithms work.
— Science

Mixing mathematics and storytelling, this book asks the big questions about algorithms and humans—and their future together.
— Literary Hub

A lucid and timely analysis.
— Booklist (starred review)

A well-constructed tour of technology and its discontents—timely, too, given the increasing prominence of AI in our daily lives.
— Kirkus Reviews