Algorithms have taken on an almost mythical significance in the modern world. They determine what you see on social media and when browsing online, help form people’s belief systems, and impact the ...

My first encounter with racism in search was in 2009 when I was talking to a friend who causally mentioned one day, “You should see what happens when you Google ‘black girls.’” I did and was stunned.

Google has said that its most recent major search update, the inclusion of the BERT algorithm, will help it better understand the intent behind users’ search queries, which should mean more relevant ...