In his book The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos offers a masterfully simple definition: “An algorithm is,” Domingos writes, “a sequence of instructions telling a computer what to do.” ...

Decline of individuality: Though some celebrate the ability of algorithms to connect us to one another and inspire collective action, others worry that they’re promoting hivelike ways of living.

In one research paper, “ Fair Assortment Planning,” Negin Golrezaei, MIT Sloan associate professor of operations management, MIT Sloan PhD candidate Qinyi Chen, and MIT PhD Fransisca Susan focused on ...