Opening the black box: algorithms, big data and artificial intelligence

These are tricky topics to navigate but ones which many journalists are increasingly grappling with as tech stories become more mainstream. There have been some teething issues though. The classic example in 2015 was when NPR mapped the most common job in every US state using data derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Truck drivers dominated the map. The issue is in the nuance of what'truck driver' means; the category includes anything from delivery drivers to those driving 16-wheel lorries.