Thom reviewed The Numerati by Stephen L. Baker
Review of 'The Numerati' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Journalist [a:Stephen L. Baker|4641655|Stephen L. Baker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] wrote this forward-thinking book nearly 10 years ago, connecting math to computer assessments of the population and describing the results. While the history is good, the current analysis and future predictions are a ways off.
The authors math seems up to the challenge, but he underestimates the power and storage of computers and overestimates the cleverness of algorithmic methods. The result is chapters on topics which seem very dated. The writing style is anecdotal and the research too personal for my tastes.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter was on medical monitoring, which the author says will work best if it is truly voluntary. Enter fitbit and google or amazon devices to speak to users, and it should be a short time before the tracked information is not stored in raw form but as part of a model. With that, Alexa and their ilk should …
Journalist [a:Stephen L. Baker|4641655|Stephen L. Baker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] wrote this forward-thinking book nearly 10 years ago, connecting math to computer assessments of the population and describing the results. While the history is good, the current analysis and future predictions are a ways off.
The authors math seems up to the challenge, but he underestimates the power and storage of computers and overestimates the cleverness of algorithmic methods. The result is chapters on topics which seem very dated. The writing style is anecdotal and the research too personal for my tastes.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter was on medical monitoring, which the author says will work best if it is truly voluntary. Enter fitbit and google or amazon devices to speak to users, and it should be a short time before the tracked information is not stored in raw form but as part of a model. With that, Alexa and their ilk should be able to warn us when they notice signs of medical problems before it is too late.
Those models don't exist outside of a few labs, and until they do (and are somehow focused into sellable products), the rest of us will miss out. The reams of data (still being collected) are at a higher risk of being used against us instead of for us. This book unfortunately doesn't go far enough into this topic either.
Goodreads uses one star for "did not like it" and five for "Awesome". This book comes in just under the two star category, "it was okay" - and perhaps would have rated higher upon first release.