Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms

by Hannah Fry

the best place to hide a dead body is on the second page of Google search results.

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.

This is particularly true for the algorithms that trade in the most fundamental modern commodity: data. The algorithms that silently follow us around the internet, the ones that are harvesting our personal information, invading our privacy and inferring our character with free rein to subtly influence our behaviour. In that perfect storm of misplaced trust and power and influence, the consequences have the potential to fundamentally alter our society.