Since 2010, the use of algorithms and big data systems has enabled corporations and institutions to control, classify, and exclude vulnerable individuals and groups in digital society. These automated models, presented as neutral, reproduce existing inequalities and amplify social discrimination.
In the book Weapons of Math Destruction, Cathy O’Neil examines how these systems affect key areas such as credit, employment, education, and public services. Automated decisions not only reflect biases present in the data but can also amplify them, causing certain groups to face exclusions or restrictions that did not exist before.
The real risk lies in the opacity and lack of oversight of these algorithms, which often operate according to efficiency or profit criteria without considering ethical or social consequences. Understanding these processes allows for a critical perspective on the role of big data in contemporary society and the power dynamics it reinforces.