A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on mathematical modelling - a pervasive new force in society that threatens to undermine democracy and widen inequality. Mathematical models, in theory, should lead to greater fairness: everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated. Cathy O'Neil reveals the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated, and uncontestable, even when they're wrong. Models are propping up the lucky and punishing the downtrodden, creating a "toxic cocktail for democracy." Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.
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