ST201903

TAKING ON ALGORITHMS

Thelatesttopictoreceivehersignaturelightness-of-

touchtreatmentisthealgorithm:stepsthata

computertakestosolveaproblem.Inhernewbook

Hello World(Transworld),whichtakesitsnamefrom

thefirstpieceofcodingstudentslearnonanycourse,

sheexploresourrelationshipwiththemechanisms

that are making important decisions and, left

unchecked,couldallowmachinestoreignsupreme.It

revealsthataninsurancecompanyhasaccesstoa

supermarket loyalty scheme revealing full details of

what we put in our baskets. Those who buy items such

asfennelareconsideredlesslikelytomakeaclaimand

soaremoreprofitable.How’sthat?“Thereprobably

isn’tmuchcrossoverbetweenthegroupofpeoplewho

arewillingtoinvesttime,effortandmoneyincreating

anelaboratedishfromscratchandthegroupwho

wouldlettheirchildrenplayfootballinthehouse.”

Thismakessensebutisn’titsurprisingthatsuchan

organisation is privy to the contents of our weekly

shop?Despitenewlawsthatgiveusbetterprotection,

Hannah’sadviceistothinkbeforegivingupour

data.“Wheneverweuseanalgorithm–especially

freeones–weneedtoaskourselvesaboutthehidden

incentives.Whyistheappgivingmeallthisstuff

forfree?Whatisthisalgorithmreallydoing?Is

thisatradeI’mcomfortablewith?WouldIbebetter

off without it?”

Thebookisfullofchallengingquestionsabout

humanversusthemachine(andliberallysprinkled

with references to Star Wars, by the way). When it

comestojustice,it’sbeenproventhatalgorithmscan

f lag up riskier offenders better than a judge, while in

court, if a human judgment is made before lunch,

you’re less likely to be awarded bail, according to one

study. So, who would you rather made the decision?

Ultimately,Hannaharguesthatalgorithmsaren’t

goodorbad,butit’showthey’reusedbypeoplethat

determinesthis.Next,sheplanstotacklethesubject

ofprisons,exploringtheirpurposeandhowwellthey

fulfil it. So, what’s the biggest lesson Hannah’s learned

from her work so far? “People are more predictable

than they think they are,” she says with a smile.

“We like to imagine we are totally autonomous

aboutthedecisionswemake, but we also fall into

patterns very easily.”

A GROWING PASSION 

To understand how and why Hannah fell in love

with mathematics, we have to journey back to

Ware, Hertfordshire, in the mid 1990s. “My mum is

an Irish mum (and anyone who has an Irish mum will

understand completely). It was the summer holidays

before my last year at primary school, I was 11, and

she decided it would be a good idea if she made me

do one page of a maths textbook every day,” she says

with a mock-groan, explaining that her parents had

no qualifications, hence the high value placed on

education for their daughter. “When I went back to

school, I understood everything at a different level to

Maths geniuses then and

now: Victorian party girl

Ada Lovelace, the first

computer programmer,

and modern celebrity

mathematician Hannah Fry

“IT’S THE HUMAN SIDE OF

GENIUSES THAT MAKES THEM

ADMIRABLE, BECAUSE YOU CAN

SEE YOURSELF IN THEM”