Americans have a growing distrust in tech according to a recent survey, and social technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) fare the worst. Westlake, OH-based content services provider Hyland surveyed 1,000 consumers through a third party to determine how technology has factored into their lives during the pandemic, and how their trust in it has changed as a result. This distrust in technology is becoming pervasive. Conspiracy theories, while usually of the essentially harmless tin-hat variety, have taken a darker turn as online fearmongering has manifested into real-life violence. Internet consumers are being heavily influenced to think the worst, especially after a Nashville bomber targeted the downtown AT&T data center, believing in conspiracy theories and shape-shifting aliens.

Whether that's the everyday life of improbably rich young millionaires like Jake Paul, a high school dropout from Westlake, Ohio, or PewDiePie, a skinny, fast-talking Swede whose real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, YouTube seeks to serve a need. It does so through "the algorithm" -- YouTube's recommendation engine. It's a black box that YouTube introduced to keep us watching, but which has become a thorn in its side as the platform grows at an astronomically grand scale. YouTube's recommendation algorithm is a set of rules followed by cold, hard computer logic. It was designed by human engineers, but is then programmed into and run automatically by computers, which return recommendations, telling viewers which videos they should watch.