Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine

by Hannah Fry

there is a tradition among all those who have ever learned to code – a rite of passage, almost. Your first task as a rookie is to program the computer to flash up a famous phrase on to the screen: ‘HELLO WORLD’

Behind each of these inventions is an algorithm. The invisible pieces of code that form the gears and cogs of the modern machine age, algorithms have given the world everything from social media feeds to search engines, satellite navigation to music recommendation systems,

GPS was invented to launch nuclear missiles and now helps deliver pizzas. Pop music, played on repeat, has been deployed as a torture device. And however beautifully made a garland of flowers might be, if I really wanted to I could strangle you with it.

algorithm (noun): A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end especially by a computer.

most of the time, we’d be better off leaving the machine to it. It’s like the saying among airline pilots that the best flying team has three components: a pilot, a computer and a dog. The computer is there to fly the plane, the pilot is there to feed the dog. And the dog is there to bite the human if it tries to touch the computer.

People are less tolerant of an algorithm’s mistakes than of their own – even if their own mistakes are bigger.