Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms | Hannah Fry

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With refreshing simplicity, Fry explains what AI, machine learning and complicated algorithms really mean."
― Guardian

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

"An action-packed read during which you will be outraged, provoked, and challenged."
― Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction

"This short, sharp book on the power and dangers of algorithms offers one of the clearest explanations of a complex subject."
― Financial Times

"Hannah Fry is one of the best STEM explainers and popularizers today."
― Forbes

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

"Hannah Fry makes algorithms sound not only quite interesting but an idea that we must understand better as they dominate more and more of our daily lives in ways we see and in many ways we don’t."
― Amazon Book Review

"Mixing mathematics and storytelling, this book asks the big questions about algorithms and humans―and their future together."
― Literary Hub

"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 review)

About the Author

Hannah Fry is the author of Hello World. With Adam Rutherford, she hosts the BBC Radio 4 show The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry. She lives in London.