Life influenced by Algorithms

Algorithms are managing all of us in this 21st-century.  We are leading our lives under the scanner of various algorithms in our daily lives, irrespective of our personal and professional lives. For some, algorithms are helping and guiding to lead lives successfully. And for others, they are increasing anxiety and stress.  Also, the fast-paced technologies are reaching rapidly to different locations across the world. And at the same speed, new problems and new solutions are being created. 

Such changes are occurring due to algorithms which are being created by Artificial Intelligence for machines and gadgets in order to read human minds. By understanding the human mind algorithms help to fulfill the wants and desires within a short span of time. We are living in an era where any two persons find it difficult to understand each other, even among family members. We want to be away from conflicts and live peacefully. In this context, algorithms are studying our psychology, our complex human brains, our desires, and needs.  In fact, algorithms are like a virtual “boss” as in the case of Ola, Uber drivers and food delivery boys of Zomato, Swiggy, and Foodpanda. For others, these are like network builders, friend makers and mentors like LinkedIn, Facebook, and WhatsApp etc..

In fact, algorithms are predicting what an individual is going to search on web search engines such as Google, Bing, etc..  Also they help in typing the keywords on the keyboard of smartphone and computer. As our ancestors used to say ‘whatever happens as part life, it is all due to the karma’, but now algorithms can replace this karma due to the artificial intelligence. We all are living in this cyber world, which is free to enter but it is impossible to exit.  Also, in reality, our lives are under the purview of various algorithms created by different companies, which are successful in creating virtual boundaries. It is because of this, many of us are messing up our personal lives because emotions and attitudes are controlled by algorithms. In fact, such algorithms are harming the positivity and spirituality due to the uncontrolled emotions and attitudes in the life cycle.  The Algorithms are creating agile environments and pushing humans to make quick life decisions. Such decisions are pushing them to lead a life in an uncertain environment. 

On the other hand, algorithms are helping various businesses to achieve exponential growth as in the case of smartphone manufacturers, telecom, banks, e-commerce, taxi service providers and startups.  These sectors are harvesting full benefits from algorithms in order to read and understand customer preferences, choices to customize products and services. Also, such data is used to customize pricing policy decisions including offers and discounts based on individual preferences. Across the globe, some giant corporate houses are making massive investments to set up Artificial Intelligence labs to understand the customer.  As we know the customer is the ultimate king. So they are always busy tracking him 24x7.  

Also, we have yoga, meditation and dedicated spiritual time to avoid daily stress and to develop self-motivation and to handle day to day challenges in this complex world.  But we see today such things are packaged and offered as a commercial service by gurus, pundits, and spiritual preachers. It is quite possible that they may also use such algorithms from the point of view as a business.  Also, one may not be surprised if this huge data collected by algorithms go into the hands of pharmaceutical companies, they might invent new diseases along with innovative medical treatments for pushing their products. 

Finally, an important question: can we live without technology and say adieu to this virtual life and plan to live a total real life with humans rather than machines and gadgets?   As we are aware, there is a wider scope to manage and handle humans in a smoother fashion than the machines. Thus, we must try to build good human relationships with the trust element rather than spoiling our lives with such devices. To conclude, this world is worried a lot about climate change but actually, no real change is taking place in our way of thinking, which has become mechanical, like artificial intelligence. 

BY M Chandra Shekar & Prof Mohd Akbar Ali khan