Researchers have developed a method to detect the destruction of buildings using freely available satellite radar imagery.

For better accountability, we should shift the focus from the design of these systems to their impact. Describing a decision-making system as an “algorithm” is often a way to deflect accountability ...

In algorithms, as in life, negativity can be a drag. Consider the problem of finding the shortest path between two points on a graph — a network of nodes connected by links, or edges. Often, these ...

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 ...

A machine-learning algorithm can register brain scans and other 3D images more than 1000 times faster than traditional systems. (Courtesy: the researchers) Medical image registration involves ...

In 1994, a mathematician figured out how to make a quantum computer do something that no ordinary classical computer could. The work revealed that, in principle, a machine based on the rules of ...

In February 2013, Eric Loomis was found driving a car that had been used in a shooting. He was arrested, and pleaded guilty to eluding an officer. In determining his sentence, a judge looked not just ...

Care for some of the sickest Americans is decided in part by algorithm. New research shows that software guiding care for tens of millions of people systematically privileges white patients over black ...

I worked for Microsoft from 2003-2007. In 1998, I unintentionally created a racially biased artificial intelligence algorithm. There are lessons in that story that resonate even more strongly today.

Last year, fashion publications wrote extensively about the impact of the algorithm on personal style. (Vogue Business included.) In last year’s fashion conversation, ‘the algorithm’ surpassed its ...