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The essential guide to the algorithms that run your life

The essential guide to the algorithms that run your life

16 June 2021

From shaping what we read and buy to diagnosing illness, algorithms play a key role in every aspect of our lives. Here’s what you need to know about the most important ones


Yoshua Bengio

Humans should worry us more than machines, says founding father of AI

5 June 2019

Yoshua Bengio is one of the pioneering developers of artificial intelligence and winner of computing’s "Nobel prize". His optimism about machines doesn’t extend to humanity


How to stop artificial intelligence being so racist and sexist

How to stop artificial intelligence being so racist and sexist

4 July 2018

AI his frequently be biased, but a new technique may be able put fairness right at the heart of training algorithms


AI artwork

After the Facebook scandal: The grand plan to hold AI to account

11 April 2018

From next month, EU citizens will have sweeping rights to know what computers are thinking about them –  but can that work, and if so how?


A judge sitting in a courtroom

Algorithms that change lives should be trialled like new drugs

17 January 2018

An algorithm used by US courts to predict reoffenders turns out to be no more accurate than random people on the internet. Why wasn’t it properly tested before now?


Phil Schiller of Apple introduces the iPhone X at a launch event in Cupertino, California

Why the iPhone X’s Face ID is a terrible way to secure your data

13 September 2017

Apple’s latest phone promises to unlock on seeing your face, and police forces are deploying similar tech to catch criminals – but problems dog the technology


Maths website stops you being ripped off by your flatmates

Maths website stops you being ripped off by your flatmates

16 June 2017

Who pays what in a flat-share is a tricky problem. Results from website Spliddit show the maths of fair division gives the solutions people think are best


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