1013: Weapons of Math Destruction, Ten Years On, with Dr. Cathy O’Neil
In Episode #1013, Dr. Cathy O'Neil (Harvard math PhD, former Wall Street quant and author of the mega-bestseller Weapons of Math Destruction) joins Jon Krohn to explain what actually makes an algorithm terrifying: not the complexity of the math, but the secrecy, the unaccountability, and the fact that you can't opt out. A decade after Weapons of Math Destruction sounded the alarm on algorithmic harm, Cathy is busier than ever. Through her algorithmic-auditing firm ORCAA and her nonprofit OCEAN, she now provides the statistical evidence behind lawsuits against some of the world's biggest tech companies. In this episode, Cathy punctures AI hype, traces the line from Frederick Winslow Taylor's factory floor to today's keystroke-tracked white-collar workers, explains why she wants every algorithmic system to fly with a "cockpit" of metrics, and lays out concrete things listeners can do in their companies, their communities, and their courtrooms, to demand accountability.
Additional materials: https://www.superdatascience.com/1013
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In this episode you will learn:
(07:02) From Wall Street to Occupy to Weapons of Math Destruction
(14:12) What actually makes an algorithm terrifying
(44:53) Inside ORCAA and OCEAN
(58:22) The Shame Machine
(1:11:23) Why every algorithmic system needs a “cockpit”
Cathy O'Neil (data scientist on shame)
Cathy O'Neil (The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation) is a mathematician, data scientist, and author. Cathy joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how shaming is used as a tool of oppression, how companies profit from shaming people publicly, and how social media conditions us to shame. Cathy and Dax discuss Race to 270, what punching-up shaming is, and how most people are in denial of their own shame. Cathy explains what the four stages of shame are, when shame can be used appropriately, and the ways in which we can challenge our own shaming.
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Elon's Twitter Board Reversal, Warner Bros. and Discovery Merger, and Cathy O’Neil on Shame
Never mind: Elon's NOT joining the Twitter board after all. Kara and Scott discuss the Warner Media and Discovery deal closing. Plus, a strike at Etsy, and Saudi investments in Jared Kushner. Then, Kara is joined by Friend of Pivot and author of “The Shame Machine,” Cathy O’Neil.
You can find Cathy on Twitter at @mathbabedotorg.
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The era of blind faith in big data must end | Cathy O'Neil
Algorithms decide who gets a loan, who gets a job interview, who gets insurance and much more -- but they don't automatically make things fair, and they're often far from scientific. Mathematician and data scientist Cathy O'Neil coined a term for algorithms that are secret, important and harmful: "weapons of math destruction." Learn more about the hidden agendas behind these supposedly objective formulas and why we need to start building better ones.
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