Watch on BBC Select:
Algorithm featuring Elif Shafak

This week, Elif Shafak discusses algorithms.

Why would an algorithm mistake a Turkish bestselling author for an American white supremacist? Award-winning novelist and intellectual Elif Shafak explores the vagaries and dangers of social media. Reflecting on the power of algorithms to shape and limit our world views, she challenges us to question the echo chambers we inhabit and to become more critically aware, engaged digital citizens.

Watch Elif Shafak in Takes, filmed exclusively for BBC Select.

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If you enjoyed this Take, scroll down to learn more about Algorithms with the following programmes, brought to you by BBC Select.

Featured in The Algorithm Drop on BBC Select:

Peter Constanza had seven minutes to explain Twitter to Donald Trump. Those seven minutes changed the nation, democracy and the world. Anthony Scaramucci, his ex-Head of Comms believes Trump’s a breath of fresh air, “the orange wrecking ball.” Others liken his first tweet to the moment in Jurassic Park when the raptors got out. This is how Trump weaponised Twitter to wage war on the establishment.

Watch Trump in Tweets and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

It’s called the Antikythera Mechanism. A mysterious lump of calcified stone containing various gearwheels discovered in an ancient shipwreck. It’s thought to be one of the earliest-ever computers, used to predict solar eclipses and calculate the timing of the ancient Olympics. Now scientists are revealing more surprising and awe-inspiring details of an object that continues to mystify.

Watch The World’s First Computer and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

The ‘Tech Gods’ behind the world’s most powerful online companies wanted to change the world. They’ve certainly achieved this, but has it changed for the better? Every aspect of our lives and society has been altered by Silicon Valley’s antics but many feel the scope and influence of just a few powerful men has happened too fast and gone too far. This BBC Documentary explores whether we are heading for disaster or a tech-led paradise.

Watch Secrets of Silicon Valley and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

They’re the first thing more than half of us look at in the morning. We pick them up on average 58 times a day. Constant pings and push notifications distract us, diminish our attention spans and flushing us with dopamine. How did we get addicted to our phones? In this BBC Documentary meet the tech experts using behavioral science to hook us, including the inventor of the ‘like’ button who now regrets what he unleashed.

Watch Smartphones: The Dark Side and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

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