A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control

Hosanagar, a Wharton professor of technology and digital business, attempts, with mixed success, to explain his field to a lay audience impacted by “algorithmic decision-making.” He covers overly familiar terrain to begin with, discussing the increasing role of artificial intelligence in online commerce, social media, and news reporting to demonstrate the topic’s importance. Where he adds value is in using his expertise to discuss how algorithms work, and how the designs of some, such as Amazon and Netflix’s personalization algorithms, reduce diversity of choice for consumers. The inherent complexity of algorithms, however, presents an obstacle to comprehension that Hosanagar never fully overcomes. In a concluding section, Hosanagar proposes a bill of rights for people affected by algorithms (that is to say, almost everyone), a well-intentioned idea that comes across as impractical. Making accessible to the average person a “description of the data used to train” algorithms and “an explanation regarding the procedures used by the algorithms,” to pick two of his suggestions, would be a daunting task. Nonetheless, Hosanagar deserves credit for valiantly attempting, throughout this thoughtful treatise, to widen understanding of a technology central to modern society. (Mar.)