The algorithms making us more narrow-minded

I read most of my news online. Sometimes I like these algorithms that feed me the news. They seem to have figured out what type of news I tend to read and now I get a steady dose of the news I like.

These algorithms are designed to predict future behavior based on data from past behavior so it eventually figures out what we like.

However, there are some obvious downsides to having an algorithm feed you your news based on your perceived interests.

First of all, news should be news for its newsworthiness. I shouldn’t necessarily just be exposed to the news I like to read.

These algorithms worked fine at first, but they became too good at what they did and began squeezing out all other news. Now all I get is news on one particular topic. This is usually fine for me, but once in a while, I would like to broaden my horizons and see what other news is out there.

These algorithms, it turns out, are good for making us all more narrow-minded – exactly what we need more of.