Automate This

I read this Automate This over the summer:

The bot takeover began with high frequency trading on Wall Street, and from there it spread to all manners of high-level tasks – such as diagnosing illnesses or interpreting legal documents. There is no realm of human endeavor safe from algorithms that employ speed, precision and nuance.

It was…okay, A good introduction, but repetitive.

It does spend a good amount of time speaking about Thomas Peterffy who was a Hungarian-born stock trader who basically pioneered automated trading, which is the precursor to the high-frequency trading we know (and fear) today. It’s a fascinating history of how Peterffy bucked the establishment and wiggled his way around safeguards designed to stop him.

(You might remember Peterffy from his anti-socialism/Obama ads from the 2012 election.)