Algorithms are biased, but you don’t have to be – The Collegian

Apps track what we click, what we view, what we like, and what we follow.

Data collected from past behavior is used to filter content and generate a feed tailored to our preferences.

What do you like? Cat or dog videos? True crime or history podcasts? Football or soccer highlights?

The algorithm knows how to grab our attention and keep us busy. So why is it bad? If I’m not interested in car videos, I’m glad my app will delete them. Programming apps for algorithms is great for entertainment, but unfortunately it also works as a tool to refine educational media.

While the feed is created to display content that one prefers, any source of information collected should be considered as confirmation.
inclination.

In a way, our deadlines keep us trapped in one-way thinking and eliminate our freedom of thought. Every topic, from political ideologies to celebrity scandals, is handed to us on a silver platter.

Social media has provided a platform for sharing knowledge that was unknown before it existed. But when we are forced to consume only one opinion, it becomes impossible to reason with others who hold different beliefs.

It is undeniable that we can recognize that society is reluctant to listen to contrary arguments. Apps allow us to swipe, dislike and even inform the algorithm to stop posting similar content.

So what do we do? Succumb to doom scrolling or change our way of thinking?

Reworking an algorithm developed from years of past data takes time, and it seems easier to surrender to the echo chamber. Instead of perceiving the algorithm as the problem, make it your problem.

We habitually discern content as truth. Change this practice by researching the information presented to you. There are documents, research papers, and articles available for you to read and form ideas.

Questioning our own beliefs is the way to discover a possible compromise with others. When we talk to real people and have healthy debates, we begin to realize that we all have common ground.

And that is a hope for the world to improve.