Womann's City Club's 31st NATIONAL SPEAKER FORUM

Featuring data scientist and award-winning author Cathy O'Neil

Speaking on "Weapons of Math Destruction: Big Data and You"

As we experience an accelerating use of AI, techology, algoririthms, and big data in the federal government, as well as in business, health care, and elsewhere, this topic could not be more relevant.

O’Neil’s acclaimed book, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy, argues that, living in age of the algorithm (a computer calculation), the decisions that affect our lives—whether we receive federal services and programs, where we go to school, whether we can get or keep a job or get a loan or go to jail, how much we pay for health insurance—are increasingly being made not by humans, but by computers.

But as O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination—propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process.

O’Neil also has ideas about how to mitigate these problems. And she has the ability to translate complex subject matter into simple terms.

This timely forum is one not to miss!