--- title: "Expert: To Understand an Algorithm, Treat It Like an Animal" description: "Algorithms are complex, says an MIT professor, and we'll only be able to understand them if we watch how they behave in the context of their environments." date: "2018-10-08" modified: "2018-10-08" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/expert-algorithm-animal" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "iyad rahwan" - "mit" - "the digest" --- # Expert: To Understand an Algorithm, Treat It Like an Animal ![]() *\Image: Emily Cho\* ## Algorithm Heaven We're entering an era in which the way software interacts with the world is so hidden and complex that researchers need to start studying algorithms the way we study animals. That's according to MIT technologist Iyad Rahwan in a [compelling interview with *New Scientist*](). Algorithms are sophisticated entities, Rahwan argues, and we'll only be able to understand them if we watch how they behave in the context of their environment. "We have a new kind of agent in the world. It’s not an animal or a human, it’s a machine," Rahwan told *New Scientist*. "Today, only computer scientists explore the behaviours of algorithms. My team is studying machine behaviour as we would a human, animal, or corporation **—** in the wild." ## Moral Machines The problem, Rahwan told the magazine, is that you can see the stories that pop up in your Facebook News Feed, but you can't access the algorithm that chose them. You can ride in an autonomous car, but you can't review the code that told it how aggressively to shift lanes. To date, Rahwan's best-known work has been in creating AIs that explore ethical questions, like an algorithm that decides [which pedestrian an autonomous car should kill]() and a ["psychopath" AI]() that sees "violence and horror" in every image it evaluates. But the *New Scientist* interview seems to be teasing something new: evaluating the behavior of existing AIs in the real world, like naturalists in an animal habitat. If Rahwan's team can make inroads on that front, it could give us a new perspective on how algorithms affect people and society. **READ MORE:** [Why the quest for ethical AI is doomed to failure]() \[*New Scientist*\] ***More on ethical AI: [Crowdsourced Morality Could Determine the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()