How algorithms shape our world

[Evil Eye]

Kevin Slavin argues that we're living in a world designed for - and increasingly controlled by - algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can't understand, with implications we can't control.

Video: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120528-how-algorithms-shape-our-world





Another level of abstraction.

 

[seasidemike]

i didn't even have to look at the video, this is absolutely true. In Earnest and Young one of the largest groups of employees are no longer brokers but mathematicians writing algorithm codes.



Around two years ago there was a mini-crash on the stock market and no one can explain why it happened other than systems started telling brokers to sell.

 

[Evil Eye]

Strange things start to happen when the good you're trading in aren't quite real.