How the Pandemic Made Algorithms Go Haywire

Algorithms have always had some trouble getting things right--hence the fact that ads often follow you around the internet for something you've already purchased. But since COVID upended our lives, more of these algorithms have misfired, harming millions of Americans and widening existing financial and health disparities facing marginalized groups. At times, this was because we humans weren't using the algorithms correctly. More often it was because COVID changed life in a way that made the algorithms malfunction. Take, for instance, an algorithm used by dozens of hospitals in the U.S. to identify patients with sepsis--a life-threatening consequence of infection.