Algorithms are sets of step-by-step instructions that tell a computer what to do. Algorithms can also be designed to learn by themselves instead of only following instructions. For example, pretend ...

Algorithms are all around us, governing everything from the recipes we use to cook dinner to the routes our navigational systems suggest we take to avoid traffic. But what exactly is an algorithm? In ...

People may be biased, even without realizing it, but computer programs shouldn’t have any reason to discriminate against black patients when predicting their healthcare needs. Right? Wrong, new ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems and algorithmic decision-making are mainstays of every sector the global economy. From search engine recommendations and advertising to credit scoring and ...

Tyler Lacoma has spent more than 10 years testing tech and studying the latest web tool to help keep readers current. He's here for you when you need a how-to guide, explainer, review, or list of the ...

In algorithms, as in life, negativity can be a drag. Consider the problem of finding the shortest path between two points on a graph — a network of nodes connected by links, or edges. Often, these ...

The scale of public anger over the automated downgrading of thousands of students’ A-level results highlights how much social and political power algorithmic decision-making now has. As well as ...

Across the United States and Europe, software is making probation decisions and predicting whether teens will commit crime. Opponents want more human oversight. Darnell Gates, on probation in ...

As a teenager in the Czech Republic, Lenka Zdeborová glimpsed her future in an Isaac Asimov novel. A character in Asimov’s “Foundation” series invents a mathematical method for predicting the path of ...