The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Imagine a town with two widget merchants. Customers prefer cheaper widgets, so the merchants must compete to set the lowest price.

Digital quantification determines Americans’ quality of life. Algorithms select job applicants for interviews and employees for performance bonuses. They aggregate stories and products as we shop for ...

Deepfakes – essentially putting words in someone else’s mouth in a very believable way – are becoming more sophisticated by the day and increasingly hard to spot. Recent examples of deepfakes include ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. If you’ve been making the same commute for a long time, you’ve probably settled on what seems like the best route. But “best” is a ...

Many companies are searching for tools to help them hire diverse, productive workforces. Even if diversity is not the main hiring goal, they may want to ensure they’re not overlooking talented ...

Three new books warn against turning into the person the algorithm thinks you are. Like a lot of Netflix subscribers, I find that my personal feed tends to be hit or miss. Usually more miss. The ...