The Economy of Algorithms
AI and the Rise of the Digital Minions
‘Fuck the algorithm!’
In the heart of London, right behind Westminster Abbey, and just as close to the famous Big Ben, there is a short, narrow street called Great Smith Street. It runs parallel to the Thames. And, just like the river, the street has seen its share of the city’s history – including the history of information technology. The world’s first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace, was born just a few minutes away in December 1815. And one of the founders of modern computer science, Alan Turing, known for breaking Enigma ciphers in World War II, began his life a couple of miles away, a century later, in June 1912. Lovelace and Turing saw beauty in algorithms and their potential to make the world a better place. Quite possibly, they each used to stroll along the quiet street while pondering their work.
But on Sunday, 16 August 2020, the street was far from quiet. It was louder and angrier than Lovelace and Turing would ever have experienced it.
‘Fuck the algorithm!’ The chants intensified.
Hundreds of students were gathered in front of the Department for Education at 20 Great Smith Street, voicing their frustration. The students were the victims of an algorithm that had been allowed to decide their future, and they were not having it.
What is an algorithm? Essentially, an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or performing a computation. If I were to avoid formal definitions here, I would say that an algorithm is like a recipe that a computer follows. Computers are useless without algorithms. They calculate, predict, optimise and do all sorts of other things that make our human lives easier. Some of them are very simple, others so complex that people cannot comprehend them.
‘Fuck the algorithm!’
Ah, right. Let’s get back to the Great Smith Street commotion. In 2020, students in the United Kingdom couldn’t sit their final-year exams due to the pandemic. These exams are critical for high-school leavers: university offers are conditional on the results. If a student’s grade is too low, they won’t get into their preferred university.
To get around this issue in England, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) introduced an algorithm to calculate the missing exam grades. […]
These are the opening chapters of my new book, “The Economy of Algorithms: AI and the Rise of the Digital Minions”. The book is launching all around the world on the 5th of March, and—with my publisher’s approval—I’ve shared these few initial paragraphs with you.
Are you curious about what happened with the students in the UK? Interested in how we ended up in a world in which algorithms decide our fate, how they affect all aspects of our lives and work, and what we could do to make sure we end up benefiting from and not regretting this progress? Grab the book soon, and dive deep into it!
You can now preorder “The Economy of Algorithms” for delivery on the 5th of March. If you’re in Australia, you can order it directly from my Australian publisher and from online stores like Amazon, Booktopia, Dymocks, and many others. If you’re outside Australia, check with your favourite bookstore: they’re sure to have it!
If you want to say hello, hear more about the book, and have your copy signed, please join one of the upcoming book launches. I can already confirm the following events (and there will be more):
Brisbane, Australia, on the fourth of March, at Queensland AI Hub. More details and registration here.
Sydney, Australia, on the sixth of March, at UNSW AI Institute. More details and registration here.
Austin, TX (US), on the eleventh of March, at SXSW 2024. More details and registration here.
I wrote this book for you, and I mean it. You’re subscribing to this newsletter, which means you’re curious about the impact algorithms have on our lives and work. It also likely means you don’t mind my relaxed approach to the topic, and perhaps sometimes you chuckle at my dry jokes. I tried to capture that tone in the book but wrote about topics that this newsletter hasn’t seen (yet).
Here’s a tiny request—if you have a friend or a colleague who you think might enjoy this newsletter or the book, please share it with them. As a first-time book author, I rely on people like you to spread the word. Thank you! 🙏