The Irrational Decision: A Conversation with Ben Recht

​Join us for an in person book launch party with Benjamin Recht, cohosted by Reboot and Bloomberg Beta in San Francisco.

​We'll be discussing Ben’s new book, The Irrational Decision: How We Gave Computers the Power to Choose for Us.

​About the book: In the 1940s, mathematicians set out to design machines that could act as ideal rational agents under uncertainty. Over time, that technical definition of rationality escaped the lab and began reshaping how we think about risk, choice, and even human judgment itself. Drawing on the history of optimization, game theory, statistical testing, and machine learning, The Irrational Decision traces how a narrow mathematical framework came to define rationality in economics, public policy, and AI.

​Together, we will explore where mathematical rationality succeeds, where it breaks down, and why human intuition, morality, and political judgment remain indispensable, especially as AI systems increasingly influence healthcare, hiring, markets, and governance. The discussion will examine how we can use computational tools as mechanisms rather than masters, and what it would mean to reclaim human agency in an age of automated decision making.

​📚 We will also give a limited number of copies of the book to our invitees who attend, first come, first serve.

​About the author
Benjamin Recht is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the coauthor of Patterns, Predictions, and Actions: Foundations of Machine Learning and Optimization for Data Analysis. His research spans machine learning, optimization, and the foundations of decision-making under uncertainty.

​About Reboot
Reboot is a community and publication for technologists thinking critically about technology, culture, and the future.

​About Bloomberg Beta
Bloomberg Beta is a seed fund focused on investing in the future of work.