By Beth Sullebarger, President,, Woman’s City Club
At the time of burgeoning use of data, technology and AI, Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati is pleased to present mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil, who has been called a whistleblower when it comes to the world of big data and its uses.
This timely event will take place Friday, April 11, at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., downtown Cincinnati. Tickets for the event are $50 for individuals; VIP tickets for the lecture and a reception with the speaker start at $150. They may be purchased online or by calling (513)977- 8838.
O’Neil’s acclaimed book, “Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy,” argues that we are living in age of the algorithm where the decisions that affect our lives — 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, ostensibly fairer, 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. She advocates for careful design and ethical considerations to ensure that algorithms incorporate transparency, accountability and social justice.
Woman’s City Club was founded in 1915 by Cincinnati women who sought to inform themselves and others about civic issues in anticipation of their winning the right to vote. The club’s mission is to educate, empower and engage people to be responsible citizens who take an active part in our democracy.
The Boston Globe described her book as “an urgent critique of . . . the rampant misuse of math in nearly every aspect of our lives.”
O’Neil is a thought leader who explores the realities and dangers of social networking, the consequences of algorithm design, and the defense of human dignity in the context of exploitative capitalism. She earned a PhD in mathematics from Harvard and taught at Barnard College before moving to the private sector, where she worked for the hedge fund, D. E. Shaw & Co.
She then worked as a data scientist at various start-ups, building models that predict people’s purchases and clicks. She launched the Lede Program in Data Journalism at Columbia University, and founded ORCAA, a consultancy providing algorithmic auditing services focused on safety, fairness and principled use of data.