The Algorithm

"'Schellmann pulls the curtain back on the AI-driven ""HR tech"" revolution taking over hiring and managing employees, and finds tools that are arbitrary, ineffective, discriminatory and likely unlawful. Reads like a dozen scandals waiting to erupt.' -- Gavin Mueller, author of 'Breaking Things at Work' 'A disturbing investigation into use of AI systems in hiring, firing, and employee surveillance. As Schellmann demonstrates, AI has moved into crucial areas of our lives, but the process has been so fast and silent that its influence is almost invisible. She argues that HR managers should be required to understand how their algorithms work, and there must be greater human input to personnel decisions. This eye-opening book makes it hard to disagree.' -- 'Kirkus Reviews' 'In ""The Algorithm"", Hilke Schellmann has done the impossible: she has rendered the baffling 'Wild West' of AI immensely readable and approachable. Schellmann gives us the dark and hidden history of tech innovation and the marketplace through the stories of those whose lives have been smashed by its glitches.' -- Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'Amity and Prosperity' 'One of the most important topics of our time--one that impacts all of us more than we realise. The book takes a balanced approach to illuminating the current state of AI in the workplace. It's not just about incredible benefits or doomsday scenarios, but a real look into the current state of these tools, the incentive systems driving their proliferation, the mixed results they provide, and how we might ensure better outcomes. Highly recommended.' -- Ryan Fuller, former vice president for workplace intelligence, Microsoft 'A fresh, important perspective on how AI is changing many critical workplace decisions in organizations. Schellmann's research is thorough and clever, and exposes the many of problems that AI and its proponents have already created for companies and employees.' -- David Futrell, former senior director of organization performance, Walmart 'Hilke Schellmann was one of the first journalists to understand the dangers of AI passing judgement on workers, and The Algorithm is an absolutely vital book about the risks and harms of the systems already operating--on us--today.' -- Clay Shirky, author of ""Cognitive Surplus"" and ""Here Comes Everybody"""