An apocalyptic piece from the Evening Standard last Easter which highlights all the different points in our lives where algorithms are controlling what we see or hear or do. A few examples include:
- social network feeds
- travel websites
- song compositions
- pension investments.
Why should we be concerned? As Robert Colvile, author of The Great Acceleration, mentions in the context of financial markets:
‘The real danger is that it can all happen at speeds to which humans can’t react. Firms go bankrupt or markets get shattered before anyone’s really realised what’s going on, which is why it’s really important to have the right safeguards in place.’
Alok Gupta 