
Hello World
Being Human in the Age of Algorithms
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Hannah Fry
-
Written by:
-
Hannah Fry
About this listen
Shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Investment Science Book Prize
A look inside the algorithms that are shaping our lives and the dilemmas they bring with them.
If you were accused of a crime, who would you rather decide your sentence - a mathematically consistent algorithm incapable of empathy or a compassionate human judge prone to bias and error? What if you want to buy a driverless car and must choose between one programmed to save as many lives as possible and another that prioritizes the lives of its own passengers? And would you agree to share your family’s full medical history if you were told that it would help researchers find a cure for cancer?
These are just some of the dilemmas that we are beginning to face as we approach the age of the algorithm, when it feels as if the machines reign supreme. Already, these lines of code are telling us what to watch, where to go, whom to date, and even whom to send to jail. But as we rely on algorithms to automate big, important decisions - in crime, justice, healthcare, transportation, and money - they raise questions about what we want our world to look like. What matters most: Helping doctors with diagnosis or preserving privacy? Protecting victims of crime or preventing innocent people being falsely accused?
Hello World takes us on a tour through the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the algorithms that surround us on a daily basis. Mathematician Hannah Fry reveals their inner workings, showing us how algorithms are written and implemented, and demonstrates the ways in which human bias can literally be written into the code. By weaving in relatable, real world stories with accessible explanations of the underlying mathematics that power algorithms, Hello World helps us to determine their power, expose their limitations, and examine whether they really are improvement on the human systems they replace.
©2018 Hannah Fry (P)2018 Audible, Inc.You may also enjoy...
-
Humble Pi
- When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World
- Written by: Matt Parker
- Narrated by: Matt Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.
-
-
Missing something from the physical book
- By A on 2020-02-01
Written by: Matt Parker
-
Life 3.0
- Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- Written by: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How will artificial intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society, and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology - and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
-
-
Truly fascinating
- By Russell Cook on 2018-10-25
Written by: Max Tegmark
-
The Mathematics of Love
- Written by: Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this must-have for anyone who wants to better understand their love life, a mathematician pulls back the curtain and reveals the hidden patterns—from dating sites to divorce, sex to marriage—behind the rituals of love. The roller coaster of romance is hard to quantify; defining how lovers might feel from a set of simple equations is impossible. But that doesn’t mean that mathematics isn’t a crucial tool for understanding love. Love, like most things in life, is full of patterns. And mathematics is ultimately the study of patterns—from predicting the weather to the fluctuations of the stock market, the movement of planets or the growth of cities. These patterns twist and turn and warp and evolve just as the rituals of love do.
-
-
kind of short + not enough take away
- By Zita K. Ranics on 2021-12-12
Written by: Hannah Fry
-
Thinking in Systems
- A Primer
- Written by: Donella H. Meadows
- Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international best seller, Limits to Growth - the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet - Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world....
-
-
Good book with Deleuzian undertones
- By Zac N on 2020-10-24
Written by: Donella H. Meadows
-
The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything
- Adventures in Math and Science
- Written by: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide listeners through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe.
-
-
The curious detectives strike again
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-04-09
Written by: Adam Rutherford, and others
-
The Alignment Problem
- Machine Learning and Human Values
- Written by: Brian Christian
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess black and white defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And autonomous vehicles on our streets can injure or kill.
-
-
Great insight into how machines learn
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-12-01
Written by: Brian Christian
-
Humble Pi
- When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World
- Written by: Matt Parker
- Narrated by: Matt Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.
-
-
Missing something from the physical book
- By A on 2020-02-01
Written by: Matt Parker
-
Life 3.0
- Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- Written by: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How will artificial intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society, and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology - and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
-
-
Truly fascinating
- By Russell Cook on 2018-10-25
Written by: Max Tegmark
-
The Mathematics of Love
- Written by: Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this must-have for anyone who wants to better understand their love life, a mathematician pulls back the curtain and reveals the hidden patterns—from dating sites to divorce, sex to marriage—behind the rituals of love. The roller coaster of romance is hard to quantify; defining how lovers might feel from a set of simple equations is impossible. But that doesn’t mean that mathematics isn’t a crucial tool for understanding love. Love, like most things in life, is full of patterns. And mathematics is ultimately the study of patterns—from predicting the weather to the fluctuations of the stock market, the movement of planets or the growth of cities. These patterns twist and turn and warp and evolve just as the rituals of love do.
-
-
kind of short + not enough take away
- By Zita K. Ranics on 2021-12-12
Written by: Hannah Fry
-
Thinking in Systems
- A Primer
- Written by: Donella H. Meadows
- Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international best seller, Limits to Growth - the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet - Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world....
-
-
Good book with Deleuzian undertones
- By Zac N on 2020-10-24
Written by: Donella H. Meadows
-
The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything
- Adventures in Math and Science
- Written by: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide listeners through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe.
-
-
The curious detectives strike again
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-04-09
Written by: Adam Rutherford, and others
-
The Alignment Problem
- Machine Learning and Human Values
- Written by: Brian Christian
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess black and white defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And autonomous vehicles on our streets can injure or kill.
-
-
Great insight into how machines learn
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-12-01
Written by: Brian Christian
What listeners say about Hello World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CKH
- 2021-07-13
Fascinating
Very entertaining and informative. Not some thing I knew much about, I found the level of Information perfect.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JohnS
- 2019-05-26
A book written for me!
This book presents a wonderful introduction to a lay person like me with a basic understanding of how algorithms are affecting my life . Focusing on topics such as law, medicine, policing and so on, and with plenty of anecdotes and examples, Hannah Fry has done a welcome service by writing this book. I now have a better understanding of the influence of algorithms have on my life, but with the reality check that humans are still in control. Allelluiah to that.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SR
- 2022-11-06
Hannah Fry delivers!
This book was expertly narrated by Hannah Fry. Never a dull moment, all the while bringing up thought provoking questions about the nature of AI. The level is also just right for most people not familiar with the subject to get an idea of the challenges, and possible approaches to deal with said challenges.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul R.
- 2022-11-25
Really level headed book about algorithms
I went into this book very much with a pro algorithm mindset, but left it with a much more level headed perspective. Like the author of Weapons of Math Destruction, Hanna Fry makes it quite clear that algorithms can be very flawed and they often lack the perfect objectivity we think they have. However, she also acknowledges that human judgement can be equally flawed, but in different ways. She concludes with the outlook that we need not discard algorithms, nor should we think they are going to solve all our problems, but rather we should keep applying our strengths to compensate for weaknesses of algorithms, and vice versa.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!