What Makes Algorithms Go Awry?

"Like it or not, much of what we encounter online is mediated by computer-run algorithms — complex formulas that help determine our Facebook feeds, Netflix recommendations, Spotify playlists or Google ads."

"But algorithms, like humans, can make mistakes. Last month, users found the photo-sharing site Flickr's new image-recognition technology was labeling dark-skinned people as 'apes' and auto-tagging photos of Nazi concentration camps as 'jungle gym' and 'sport.'"

"How does this happen? Zeynep Tufekci, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Information and Library Science, tells NPR's Arun Rath that biases can enter algorithms in various ways — not just intentionally."