The History and Use of Statistical Models in the Service of Capital

Justin Joque is a visualization librarian at the University of Michigan and the author of the book Revolutionary Mathematics: Artificial Intelligence, Statistics, and the Logic of Capitalism. His book examines the statistical models on which our algorithms, machine learning, and financial systems are built, highlighting the mechanisms of abstraction which lend these models an air of misleading objectivity. Can statistical models be used towards emancipatory aims?