An Algorithm to Rule Everything

An Algorithm to Rule Everything

By: Erreh Svaia

Caprine Dispersion

I have a couple of weeks using the Waze application to find the best possible route to my daily destination in the morning, at the beginning the route was decided by me, based on my usual routes and I only used the application for the most complicated sections, afterwards, although It took me a lot of work to trust the AI ​​of the application and I let myself be guided by it completely, what took me through streets that I never imagined to travel and give tours that completely defied my logic, but as the decreases in time began to give in a way that I would consider almost magical, of not knowing the nature of GPS and Artificial Intelligence, that's how Waze not only gave some variety to the routine, it took me to travel parts of the city that I did not know and saved me considerable time on the routes, as my expertise at the wheel helped me even improve the calculated arrival times by the application.

The calculations of Waze have been quite accurate and reliable and it is starting to become a somewhat indispensable tool, it is a fact that the AI ​​and algorithm that the application handles are more appropriate when making route decisions than my experience and reasoning, and there could come a time when I totally depend on it to go anywhere, although it should be noted that the mix of Waze calculations plus my expertise as a driver have yielded better results, the only dependence on AI would not be enough to get ahead in certain task.

Now, what would happen if once we have developed to unsuspected levels the AI ​​and we get to have the coveted "master algorithm" that as well as can find candidates for a job, could find suitable candidates for a public position? Many will begin to fear if it is to impose the business variables within the government and the issue does not go around, there must be an adequate consensus of what is needed in each position and maybe start by determining who would be the most representative people under certain parameters to determine the most suitable for a deputation, from there to advance to the Senate and begin to consider based on the evaluation of success of each of the steps begin to contemplate the possibility of one day being able to have a mayor elected under the impeccable calculations of a well-designed algorithm in constant improvement process.

For some it must sound terrible, something like giving up our free will and submitting ourselves completely to the machine before the altar of technology, technically we already do it, Google looks for the results that it considers most appropriate according to what we are looking for, Amazon suggests that we can buy according to the records of our searches and tastes, Netflix puts at our disposal films and series determined according to the characteristics of the programs that we usually see, and if that were not enough, the nefarious Facebook suggests us pages and friendships based on to our movements within the platform, in a great way, we have given part of the control to the "machine", and that is precisely where the "final definition" should run to our account, because today we have seen it in events such as the Brexit, the triumph of Donald Trump in the US or the triumph of Andrés López in Mexico, the elections or consultations have been hacked precisely for stopping precisely just at the "threshold" of digital technologies, because we have not yet dared to take the "big step", algorithms today are not being used to give us the best option, they are being used to analyze us only and arrive to the conclusion that it is what we want (even without our knowing it), not what really needs to cover a real need, Google should suggest content to maybe improve my health or mood, Amazon should suggest books for my personal and professional development, Netflix, documentaries to better understand the dynamics of the world, even to educate me better, and Facebook should not only suggest "friendships" common to my tastes and preferences, but also people from other people in order to improve my social skills.

The problem nowadays with the algorithms is that they are determining not the type of rulers that are really needed, but they exacerbate the idealistic desires of the society, through the networks the algorithms detect our fears and our desires, it is possible for entities like the infamous Cambridge Analytica to detect those patterns or that idealized "figure" and be able to sell that study to other political entities to find a person that fits that profile, create a candidate that is perceived as capable of covering that profile, such once a center liberal like Emmanuel Macron, a protective mother like Angela Merkel, a ruthless businessman like Donald Trump, a messianic revolutionary nationalist like Andrés López or an heir of Pinochet like Jair Bolsonaro, characters that conform to an ideal of the masses, but not to what is really needed to cover a role as the head of a nation.

As long as we remain on the margin in this capacity granted to the algorithms and artificial intelligence, we will not really be able to control and enable it to give us a truly effective and functional result, we will continue giving control to the AI so that it enables others to deceive us , to use our ideals or desires to sell us a product, or a candidate and therefore the need to accelerate the process and not feel the owners of the process, since that feeling is precisely what many want us to feel, keep us off guard to explore our desires and exploit them against us.