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Automate This
- How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
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Automate This
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Summary
The rousing story of the last gasp of human agency and how today’s best and brightest minds are endeavoring to put an end to it.
It used to be that to diagnose an illness, interpret legal documents, analyze foreign policy, or write a newspaper article you needed a human being with specific skills - and maybe an advanced degree or two. These days, high-level tasks are increasingly being handled by algorithms that can do precise work not only with speed but also with nuance. These "bots" started with human programming and logic, but now their reach extends beyond what their creators ever expected.
In this fascinating, frightening audiobook, Christopher Steiner tells the story of how algorithms took over - and shows why the "bot revolution" is about to spill into every aspect of our lives, often silently, without our knowledge. The May 2010 "Flash Crash" exposed Wall Street’s reliance on trading bots to the tune of a 998-point market drop and $1 trillion in vanished market value. But that was just the beginning. In Automate This, we meet bots that drive cars, pen haikus, and write music mistaken for Bach’s. They listen in on our customer service calls and figure out what Iran would do in the event of a nuclear standoff. There are algorithms that can pick out the most cohesive crew of astronauts for a space mission or identify the next Jeremy Lin. Some can even ingest statistics from baseball games and spit out pitch-perfect sports journalism indistinguishable from that produced by humans.
The interaction of man and machine can make our lives easier. But what will the world look like when algorithms control our hospitals, our roads, our culture, and our national security? What happens to businesses when we automate judgment and eliminate human instinct? And what role will be left for doctors, lawyers, writers, truck drivers, and many others? Who knows - maybe there’s a bot learning to do your job right this minute.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gary
- 22-10-13
Software, Quant or Algorithmic Engineers are smart
If you could sum up Automate This in three words, what would they be?
Opportunities Software-Engineering Smart
What other book might you compare Automate This to, and why?
Wall Street meets Steve Jobs (Apple Story); clever people spotting opportunities and have the problems solving skills to progress them let alone the technical skills to do it themselves PLUS the ability to ignore / step around people saying NO (it can't be done)
Which character – as performed by Walter Dixon – was your favourite?
Thomas Peterffy
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Smile, a lot.
Any additional comments?
Very useful in my line of work given that I work with numerous PHD data scientists and mathematicians. Not I know what the heck they are talking about. :-)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mr Peter Mo
- 19-10-17
Enlightening
Even though I was expecting a different concept, this book pleasantly surprised me and it has a lot to offer. It opened my eyes to some aspects of automation I had not consciously considered before and it inspired me to further develop my coding skills.
I actually listened to it at 1.25x of speed and it was just perfect.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jamie
- 08-12-13
A terrific history of how automation impacts
Would you listen to Automate This again? Why?
Probably not ... definitely a good listen and a fascinating perspective of how technology has been at the forefront of stock markets (primary focus book) and the battles and struggles to contain this genie
Also slightly terrifying into how simple mistakes can bring down our global society
Who was your favorite character and why?
Not a character book as such
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Alev Haddadieh
- 26-04-16
fascinating book..
Developments and the application of the algorithmsn in the last 10 to 15 years have been fascinating..
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