Automate This
{{Short description|2021 non-fiction book by Christopher Steiner}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World
| image = Christopher Steiner - Automate this How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World.jpeg
| image_size =
| caption =
|last=Steiner |first=Christopher
| country =
| subject = Automation
| publisher = Portfolio Hardcover
| pub_date = {{Start date|2012|08|30|df=y}}
| awards =
| isbn = 978-1-59184-492-1
| oclc = 757470260
}}
Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World is a book written by Christopher Steiner{{cite web|url=http://chrissteiner.com/ |title=Christopher Steiner |publisher=Chrissteiner.com |accessdate=2013-05-17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214110417/http://www.chrissteiner.com/ |archivedate=2014-02-14 }} and published by Penguin Group.
Book
Steiner begins his study of algorithms on Wall Street in the 1980s{{cite web|last=Vance |first=Ashlee |author-link=Ashlee Vance |url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-06/book-review-automate-this-by-christopher-steiner#p1 |title=Book Review: 'Automate This,' by Christopher Steiner |work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |date=2012-09-06 |accessdate=2013-05-17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109145459/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-06/book-review-automate-this-by-christopher-steiner |archivedate=2014-01-09 }} but also provides examples from other industries. For example, he explains the history of Pandora Radio and the use of algorithms in music identification. He expresses concern that such use of algorithms may lead to the homogenization of music over time.{{cite web|last=Morozov |first=Evgeny |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443686004577633491013088640 |title=Book Review: Automate This |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=2012-09-20 |accessdate=2013-05-17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521095137/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443686004577633491013088640.html |archivedate=2013-05-21 }} Steiner also discusses the algorithms that eLoyalty (now owned by Mattersight Corporation following divestiture of the technology) was created by dissecting 2 million speech patterns and can now identify a caller's personality style and direct the caller with a compatible customer support representative.{{cite web|url=http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/tag/automate-this/ |title=Automate This - FORTUNE Features |publisher=CNN |date=2012-08-24 |accessdate=2013-05-17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105010743/http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/tag/automate-this/ |archivedate=2013-11-05 }}
Steiner's book shares both the warning and the opportunity that algorithms bring to just about every industry in the world, and the pros and cons of the societal impact of automation (e.g. impact on employment).