London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

The algorithms that make decisions about your life

The algorithms that make decisions about your life

Thousands of students in England are angry about the controversial use of an algorithm to determine this year's GCSE and A-level results.

They were unable to sit exams because of lockdown, so the algorithm used data about schools' results in previous years to determine grades.

It meant about 40% of this year's A-level results came out lower than predicted, which has a huge impact on what students are able to do next. GCSE results are due out on Thursday.

There are many examples of algorithms making big decisions about our lives, without us necessarily knowing how or when they do it.

Here's a look at some of them.

Social media




In many ways, social-media platforms are simply giant algorithms.

At their heart, they work out what you're interested in and then give you more of it - using as many data points as they can get their hands on.

Every "like", watch, click is stored. Most apps also glean more data from your web-browsing habits or geographical data. The idea is to predict the content you want and keep you scrolling - and it works.

And those same algorithms that know you enjoy a cute-cat video are also deployed to sell you stuff.

All the data social-media companies collect about you can also tailor ads to you in an incredibly accurate way.

But these algorithms can go seriously wrong. They have been proved to push people towards hateful and extremist content. Extreme content simply does better than nuance on social media. And algorithms know that.

Facebook's own civil-rights audit called for the company to do everything in its power to prevent its algorithm from "driving people toward self-reinforcing echo chambers of extremism".

Insurance




Whether it's house, car, health or any other form of insurance, your insurer has to somehow assess the chances of something actually going wrong.

In many ways, the insurance industry pioneered using data about the past to determine future outcomes - that's the basis of the whole sector, according to Timandra Harkness, author of Big Data: Does Size Matter.

Getting a computer to do it was always going to be the logical next step.

"Algorithms can affect your life very much and yet you as an individual don't necessarily get a lot of input," she says.

"We all know if you move to a different postcode, your insurance goes up or down.

"That's not because of you, it's because other people have been more or less likely to have been victims of crime, or had accidents or whatever."

Innovations such as the "black box" that can be installed in a car to monitor how an individual drives have helped to lower the cost of car insurance for careful drivers who find themselves in a high-risk group.

Might we see more personally tailored insurance quotes as algorithms learn more about our own circumstances?

"Ultimately the point of insurance is to share the risk - so everybody puts [money] in and the people who need it take it out," Timandra says.

"We live in an unfair world, so any model you make is going to be unfair in one way or another."

Healthcare

Artificial Intelligence is making great leaps in being able to diagnose various conditions and even suggest treatment paths.



A study published in January 2020 suggested an algorithm performed better than human doctors when it came to identifying breast cancer from mammograms.

And other successes include:

* a tool that can predict ovarian-cancer survival rates and help determine treatment choices
* artificial intelligence from University College, London, that identified patients most likely to miss appointments and therefore need reminders

However, all this requires a vast amount of patient data to train the programmes - and that is, frankly, a rather large can of worms.

In 2017, the UK Information Commission ruled the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust had not done enough to safeguard patient data when it had shared 1.6 million patient records with Google's AI division, DeepMind.

"There's a fine line between finding exciting new ways to improve care and moving ahead of patients' expectations," said DeepMind's co-founder Mustafa Suleyman at the time.

Policing




Big data and machine learning have the potential to revolutionise policing.

In theory, algorithms have the power to deliver on the sci-fi promise of "predictive policing" - using data, such as where crime has happened in the past, when and by whom, to predict where to allocate police resources.

But that method can create algorithmic bias - and even algorithmic racism.

"It's the same situation as you have with the exam grades," says Areeq Chowdhury, from technology think tank WebRoots Democracy.

"Why are you judging one individual based on what other people have historically done? The same communities are always over-represented".

Earlier this year, the defence and security think tank RUSI published a report into algorithmic policing.

It raised concerns about the lack of national guidelines or impact assessments. It also called for more research into how these algorithms might exacerbate racism.

Facial recognition too - used by police forces in the UK including the Met - has also been criticised.

For example, there have been concerns about whether the data going into facial-recognition technology can make the algorithm racist.

The charge is facial-recognition cameras are more accurate at identifying white faces - because they have more data on white faces.

"The question is, are you testing it on a diverse enough demographic of people?" Areeq says.

"What you don't want is a situation where some groups are being misidentified as a criminal because of the algorithm."
Artificial Intelligence is making great leaps in being able to diagnose various conditions and even suggest treatment paths.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×