Fear of algorithms comes from opacity; making processes visible turns algorave into algorithmic literacy

The RA documentary answers the worry that algorithms are having a negative effect on society with a distinction: the problem is not algorithms as a category but specific algorithms and how they are used, so rather than fearing algorithms in general we should look at their contents and understand what they actually do. By showing the algorithm on screen, algorave lets audiences see that algorithms are readable, writable processes - not black boxes - and start to grasp how such processes come into being. Algorithmic literacy is proposed as a civic counter to algorithmic fear.

Examples

Opaque social-media recommendation algorithms breed suspicion; a TidalCycles pattern on a projector is the opposite - every rule generating the music is visible and editable live.

Assessment

Explain the documentary’s distinction between ‘algorithms in general’ and specific algorithms, and describe how algorave events address public fear of algorithms.