We live in a world that is increasingly being designed for and run by algorithms. Algorithms are highly complex computer programs that can solve problems and even determine espionage tactics, stock prices or what script will be a successful movie. An obvious but key distinction needs to be made here between automation and AI. Automation is just a machine performing a rote, repetitive task – like the work robots currently do on auto assembly lines. With AI, machines actually observe and learn new capabilities – on their own.

That’s the essence of machine learning. Computer programmers don’t have to write every line of code for an algorithm to execute a function; they just have to design the algorithm to learn from the “experience” of a data set. It’s not like Google’s developers wrote every line of code for self-driving cars; rather, the algorithms observed real-life drivers and now draw from that database to make the right decision. 

In the two presentations below Kevin Slavin and Christopher Steiner warn, that computer programmers (still human beings) are now writing code that they can't understand. Humanity is losing more and more control of life on planet Earth, as it increasingly depends on complex algorithms to manage decisions.

Sources: ted.com and R. Hessel's article: Are Robots Going To Replace CEO's?

Kevin Slavin – How algorithms shape our world

Christopher Steiner – Algorithms Are Taking Over The World