Research- How Algorithms Affect Us Everyday

There are an ever-expanding amount of algorithms that run constantly, behind the scenes, in order to dictate and predict what is believed to be relevant content or ideas to you personally. It is the intense accuracy and relevancy that these algorithms achieve that allows them to slot into your every day life so seamlessly without question from the user.

“From what we choose to read and watch to who we choose to date, algorithms are increasingly playing a huge role. And it’s not just the obvious cases, like Google search algorithms or Amazon recommendation algorithms. We’ve invited these algorithms into our courtrooms and our hospitals and our schools, and they’re making these tiny decisions on our behalf that are subtly shifting the way our society is operating.”

States Hannah Fry, mathematician, author and lecturer, when being interviewed about the impact algorithms are having on daily human life. According to this quote, as time goes on, algorithms will become more and more 'powerful' simply because of the amount of decisions they are making on behalf of us as a race. At some point there will be little-to-no human intervention at all since the algorithm will be 100% efficient; something a human could never be.

"As machine learning advances, we are conceding more control to the algorithms, with potentially dire consequences. This is a particular problem in the public sector, where cash-strapped authorities are turning to algorithms they don’t fully understand in an effort to cut costs. In the UK, one police force is now investigating half as many reported assaults and public order offences on the say-so of a computer."

This is stated within an article titled We Must Give More Thought to How Algorithms Affect Us on the NewScientist webpage. It draws attention to the fact that perhaps 100% efficiency isn't actually 100% efficient from a moral and human standpoint. Seeing these examples of how powerful algorithms can genuinely be just draws my attention to how they can be used in a positive way or to send a message. In terms of art this means that algorithms could be harnessed to send an incredibly intricate message.

Algorithms have wrapped their way around almost every aspect of our current social lives, especially now that so many events are taking place online, which means that even more of our data can be gathered thus giving the algorithm more power. If, as an artist, you could potentially interweave your own work in this same way, interjecting your work and message into peoples day-to-day lives under the radar then it could be possible to create one of the largest scale artworks ever created.

1.    Fry, H. (2018). How algorithms are controlling your life. Available: https://www.vox.com/technology/2018/10/1/17882340/how-algorithms-control-your-life-hannah-fry.

     Unknown. (2019). We must give more thought to how algorithms affect us Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132123-700-we-must-give-more-thought-to-how-algorithms-affect-us/#ixzz6oSm8nARB. Available: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132123-700-we-must-give-more-thought-to-how-algorithms-affect-us/.