You are currently viewing Peeling back the surface – what’s behind algorithmic tools?

The ReEnTrust project is delighted to announce the launch of its new animated video, which aims to unpack some of the mystery in the algorithms we so often encounter, but may find it difficult to get to grips with. The video is entitled ‘Algorithms and Us“, and draws attention to the pervasive and not-always-positive effects of algorithms on daily life. The project hopes that by discussing some of these effects, and highlighting some of the efforts to mitigate them, we can open up a conversation about algorithms in society and the ways they can influence our lives.

Professor Marina Jirotka, head of Oxford’s Responsible Technology Institute and leader of the project, commented, “Algorithms have become one of the prevailing features of modern life, almost without us noticing. We wanted to take this opportunity to look at how they’re affecting individuals, communities and societies, and hopefully give people some tools with which to start questioning these effects.”

ReEnTrust was a collaboration between the Human Centred Computing group at the University of Oxford, the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, and HORIZON Digital Economy Research at the University of Nottingham. It was funded by EPSRC Digital Economy grant EP/R033633/1.

You can view the animation here: https://youtu.be/BBuMsw5E_E0

More about ReEnTrust and its outcomes is available here: https://reentrust.org/