Category: Ideas

Algorithms Can Be a Tool For Justice—If Used the Right Way Companies like Netflix, Facebook, and Uber deploy algorithms in search of greater efficiency. But when used to evaluate the powerful systems that judge us, algorithms can spur social progress in ways nothing else can. Go to Source Author: Noam Cohen

Free Speech in the Age of Algorithmic Megaphones Researchers have long known that local actors—as well as Russia—use manipulative tactics to spread information online. With Facebook suspending a slew of domestic accounts, a difficult reckoning is upon us. Go to Source Author: Renee DiResta

Three Commandments for Reasonable Technology Optimism Technology can be a powerful force for good, but its impacts are unpredictable. On the 25th anniversary of WIRED, technologists should temper their enthusiasm with proper caution. Go to Source Author: Jason Pontin

What Is Voldemorting? The Ultimate SEO Dis When writers swap Trump for Cheeto and 45, it’s not just a put-down. Removing a keyword is the anti-SEO—transforming your subject into a slippery, ungraspable, swarm. Go to Source Author: Gretchen McCulloch

The Next Great (Digital) Extinction How today’s internet is rapidly and indifferently killing off many systems while allowing new types of organizations to emerge. Go to Source Author: Joi Ito

Why Scientists Should Be Tracking a Catastrophic Pig Disease African swine fever is eliminating entire herds in China and Europe. But few surveillance systems capture animal pathogens, even when humans are aiding their spread. Go to Source Author: Maryn McKenna

The Educational Tyranny of the Neurotypicals The current school system is too rigid, and it’s designed for a different world anyway. Go to Source Author: Joi Ito

Why California’s Privacy Law Won’t Hurt Facebook or Google The California Consumer Privacy Act was heralded as a blow against Big Tech. But the law will primarily constrain smaller actors in the online-ad world. Go to Source Author: Antonio García Martínez