FICO scores are the standard credit-scoring system in the United States. The FICO model was created to evaluate the risk of a person defaulting on a loan. And because the model was designed to be transparent, fair, and backed by consistently updated data, O’Neil asserts that it is not a “weapon of math destruction.” However, e-scores—unregulated models that aggregate even more data than the FICO model—use hidden metrics and faulty data that threaten FICO’s hold as the industry standard.
FICO Score Quotes in Weapons of Math Destruction
The Weapons of Math Destruction quotes below are all either spoken by FICO Score or refer to FICO Score. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 8: Collateral Damage
Quotes
Since [the invention of the FICO score], the use of scoring has of course proliferated wildly. Today we’re added up in every conceivable way as statisticians and mathematicians patch together a mishmash of data, from our zip codes and Internet surfing patterns to our recent purchases. Many of their pseudoscientific models attempt to predict our creditworthiness, giving each of us so-called e-scores. These numbers, which we rarely see, open doors for some of us, while slamming them in the face of others. Unlike the FICO scores they resemble, e-scores are arbitrary, unaccountable, unregulated, and often unfair—in short, they’re WMDs.
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FICO Score Term Timeline in Weapons of Math Destruction
The timeline below shows where the term FICO Score appears in Weapons of Math Destruction. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8: Collateral Damage
...a banker to give them a loan. When Earl Isaac and Bill Fair developed the FICO model to evaluate the risk of an individual defaulting on a loan, things seemed to...
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While FICO scores were relatively transparent, fair, and backed by consistently updated data, the use of scoring...
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E-scores are taking society several steps backward from the fairness and transparency of the FICO scoring system. They’re not looking at individuals; they’re rating people in relation to a “blizzard...
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