Information Channel

January 04, 2025

How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives

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In today’s high-tech world, algorithms are shaping our decisions on a daily basis. But are there risks in giving artificial intelligence so much control over our lives? Then, a leading psychology expert says that bias occurs naturally in everyone. In come in to play even when we try treating others equally.

Episode Segments

A Human\'s Guide to Machine Intelligence

Computer algorithms and the artificial intelligence that underlies them make a staggering number of everyday decisions for nearly every American, from what products we buy, to how we consume our news or entertainment, to whom we date, and how we find a job. Kartik Hosanagar, PhD, John C. Hower Professor of Technology and Digital Business and a Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, is author of A Human\'s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control. discussed the potentially dangerous biases algorithms can give rise to as they increasingly run our lives, and offered suggestions for consumers to regain control.

Hidden Prejudice

Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Stanford, recipient of a 2014 MacArthur \"genius\" grant, and author of Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do talked about the numerous forms of bias hardwired into every human being. She said unconscious bias can be at work without our realizing it, even when we genuinely wish to treat all people equally. She explained how bias and racial inequality seeps into classrooms, police departments and businesses. She offered advice on how to recognize our own biases.

Cardiac Treatment Trials

Alexander Fanaroff, M.D., Fellow, Cardiovascular Medicine, Duke University Medical Center led a study that found that less than 10 percent of the treatment recommendations used by doctors to care for heart patients are based on evidence gained from multiple large, randomized clinical trials. He explained how the other 90 percent of treatments have come to be generally accepted by doctors. He hopes to see greater research to provide scientifically-supported treatment guidelines.

Friday • March 20

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