Algorithms are regularly in the news, for example the algorithm that unfairly downgraded tens of thousands of GCSEs and A-Level students or Cambridge Analytica influencing the 2016 US elections. However, algorithms are influencing more aspects of our everyday lives than we realise, from the judiciary and healthcare systems to loyalty cards in supermarkets. Furthermore, we are often oblivious to the quantity of the data that is collected about us, and how easily identifiable we are from many of the data sets.
Hannah Fry, a mathematician, provides an entry level guide to the world of data and algorithms in an interesting and approachable way, that will have you laughing one minute, and in deep thought the next. As she examines both the positives and negatives that have come from the changes that are being made, Fry asks the fundamental questions; how can we be human in the age of the machine, and what kind of world we truly want to live in? I attribute this book to my decision to apply for a degree in Computer Science, and could not recommend it highly enough. (I even referenced it on my personal statement!)
Reviewed By: Abbie Oakes, Website Administrator, Women in Tech forum
June 2021