Hello World by Hannah Fry (Goodreads) is a fascinating book about how data and algorithms are transforming human lives and influencing everyday decision-making. I found this book quite engaging, as it explores the impact of algorithms across various sectors such as crime, medicine, justice and others. While algorithms are helping people make better decisions in many cases, they also sometimes create negative consequences. On one hand, algorithms aim to reduce human bias, but on the other, decisions made by machines often lack the ability to account for human feelings, emotions and privacy.

I really liked how the author wrapped up each chapter with insightful thoughts and brought it all together in a dedicated conclusion chapter. Here are a few insightful quotes from the book that I found particularly meaningful:

“Imagine that we designed them (algorithms) to support humans in their decisions, rather than instruct them. To be transparent about why they came to a particular decision, rather than just inform us of the result.”

“In my view, the best algorithms are the ones that take the human into account at every stage.”

“In the age of the algorithm, humans have never been more important.”

Overall, Hello World was a thought-provoking and enjoyable read for me, with its compelling examples and well-researched content. The inclusion of annotations and links to real-world stories at the end was especially helpful for further exploration. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the role of AI in our world today.