Why everyone’s talking about...
Algorithms
The A-level exam-results chaos has been blamed on opaque algorithms adjusting predicted grades, but what are these mysterious processes? Essentially they’re just a list of rules to be followed to solve a problem – even something as simple as a recipe. The word comes from 9th Century Persian mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, whose last name became anglicised to Algorithmi. He also wrote the book Al-jabr, from which we get ‘ algebra’ – another reason for students to hate him!
So what else are algorithms used for? A whole host of things, since they are the language of computers processing vast amount of data. From spotting early signs of cancer, to Netflix viewing suggestions; from setting insurance premiums, to deciding whether you can get a job or a loan. More frivolously, algorithms have been used to predict bra sizes – based on women answering a list of questions – create the ‘perfect whisky’ and even write jokes (unsuccessfully, I might add. An example: ‘What did the new ants say after a dog? It was a pirate.’).
If an algorithm is such a dispassionate process, how can it go so wrong? It’s only as good as the information put in and the rules themselves – both of which are set by fallible humans. Algorithms tend to exaggerate existing biases, such as sexism and racism, and over-ride individual difference – which is why exam pupils felt angry they couldn’t escape being judged on their schools’ past record. Even before this latest fiasco, Supreme Court judge Lord Justice Sales called for controls against the ‘grave threats’ posed by artificial intelligence, saying wisely: ‘Subjecting human life to processes governed by code means that code can gain a grip on our thinking which reduces human capacities and diminishes political choice.’ Bad programming has caused self-driving cars to crash; runs on the stock market; and fake coronavirus news being viewed 3.8 billion times on Facebook.
Any other ridiculous algorithm fails? Microsoft devised a system in 2016 to strike up conversations with millennials on Twitter based on what it learned from 18-to-24-yearolds. Within hours it had become a foulmouthed, racist Hitler supporter, and had to be switched off. Also, Amazon once advertised an out-of-print biology textbook about flies for sale for £17.5 million when automated pricing went awry.
So does all this mean Gavin Williamson can shift blame for the exams fiasco to computer programs and cling on to his job as Education Secretary? Algorithm says ‘No’.