Algorithms Are People
The secret sauce of search engines gives tech companies an abundance of plausible deniability.
In aviation, the black box is a source of knowledge: a receptacle of crucial data that might help investigators understand catastrophe. In technology, a black box is the absence of knowledge: a catchall term describing an algorithmic system with mechanics its creators can’t—or won’t—explain. Algorithms, in this telling, are unknowable, uncontrollable, and independent of human oversight, even as they promote extremist content, make decisions affecting our health, or act in potential violation of antitrust law.
In investigative reports and international courts, Amazon, Google, and other tech platforms have been
