Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms

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)When it comes to artificial intelligence, we either hear of a paradise on earth or of our imminent extinction. It’s time we stand face-to-digital-face with the true powers and limitations of the algorithms that already automate important decisions in healthcare, transportation, crime, and commerce. Hello World is indispensable preparation for the moral quandaries of a world run by code, and with the unfailingly entertaining Hannah Fry as our guide, we’ll be discussing these issues long after the last page is turned.

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“Hello World is an action-packed read during which you will be outraged, provoked, and challenged. The numerous, meticulously researched examples reveal the astonishing new world we’re living in, one where secret decisions with ambiguous goals are deciding our individual and collective fates.”
― Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction

“Expertly told, wise and with a lightness of touch, Hannah Fry’s brilliant exploration of how we live our lives in the age of AI will prompt arguments in pubs and over dinner tables for years to come.”
― Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived

“Computers used to be tools, then they were toys, and now they’re all around us. You couldn’t ask for a better guide to this bewildering new world than Hannah Fry, who fills Hello World with wit, storytelling, and superbly clear insight. Bravo!”
― Tim Harford, author of Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy

“Hannah Fry is one of the best explainers on the planet. In Hello World, she takes a serious subject and leavens it delightfully with her clear writing and captivating stories, and her trademark sense of humor and fun.”
― Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics, Cornell University, and author of The Joy of x

“Hello World is a brisk and friendly guidebook to the algorithms all around us.”
― Jordan Ellenberg, author of How Not to Be Wrong

“Hello World is a gem of accessible science writing. With eloquence and charm, Hannah Fry outlines the math of computer algorithms and explains how they are transforming fields such as health, justice, transport, and the arts. She is a wise guide to the benefits―and horrors―of our increasingly data-driven world.”
― Alex Bellos, author of Here’s Looking at Euclid

“Fascinating and funny. I learned something on every page.”
― Tom Chivers, Buzzfeed

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

“A lucid and timely analysis.”
― Booklist (starred)

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

“Fry incites readers to consider both the strengths and weaknesses of human and machine, science and the scientist before we render full control to algorithms to run our daily lives.”
― Library Journal (starred)

“Hello World is engaged with the bigger choices that algorithms are poised to make… Mixing mathematics and storytelling, this book asks the big questions about algorithms and humans―and their future together.”
― Literary Hub –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

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