For the last 97 years, Time magazine has been anointing a "person of the year" every year-end. As a child who grew up on a staple of Time and Newsweek, I would eagerly look forward to the year's last editions simply to see if I could guess who it would be. I succeeded only half the time. Nevertheless, thinking of all the persons I could list as possibilities and then weeding most of them out was a fun exercise. It gave me a kick.
It wasn't always called person of the year. In a less gender-sensitized era, it was called man of the year and, in some cases, woman of the year. It became the person of the year in the noughties. What started in 1927 with the coveted space given to aviator Charles Lindbergh, was given to Donald Trump for 2024. Time features a person, group, idea or object that, "for better or worse," has done the most to influence the events of the year.
I go back to the ways of my school days. I sit down and list my own person of the year for 2024. And it is not Donald Trump. It is not human at all. For me, it is the algorithm. Call it a he, she, them or it, the algorithm is the one biggest influencer of 2024. The algorithm has shaped the lives of billions, and continues to influence the future of everything.
Let me introduce you to this being. It is a lifeless form with a life all its own. The algorithm to me is a recipe. It is not a dish. It is a clever recipe that results in a good and tasty dish. It has many ingredients. It has many steps as well. It has a flow. It has both consistency and inconsistency loaded into it. It is what makes the world run today. All of life and living is governed by the algorithm.
This story is from the December 24, 2024 edition of The New Indian Express Tirunelveli.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 24, 2024 edition of The New Indian Express Tirunelveli.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
BOXING DAY TEST: EYE ON REDEFINING MELBOURNE IDENTITY
Rohit and Co would hope to save series with dominant performance against hosts
BOXING DAY TEST: EYE ON REDEFINING MELBOURNE IDENTITY
Rohit and Co would hope to save series with dominant performance against hosts
Deol's ton helps India seal series
HARLEEN DEOL'S maiden hundred set the foundation and India sealed the ODI series with a 115-run win over the West Indies.
Cranbrook to MCG, the rise and rise of teenager Konstas
ON the eve of New South Wales' first Sheffield Shield match of the season against South Australia at Cricket Central in Sydney, Sam Konstas was sitting with his batting coach Tahmid Islam for dinner.
Timely lift for Haryana shuttler
DEVIKA SIHAG is stoked at the moment. She had a valid reason to be.
India to play matches in Dubai, Pak tie on Feb 23
FINALLY, the International Cricket Council on Tuesday announced the much-awaited schedule of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Excited with pack of pacers in SA20
WITH the third edition of the SA20 coming soon, the Ambassador of the franchise league and former South African fast bowler Allan Donald believes the new crop of pace bowlers coming from his home country are the ones to watch out for.
PM Modi meets economists ahead of Budget
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with a group of economists and thought leaders in preparation for the Union Budget at NITI Aayog.
Air traffic record high, IndiGo leads the pack
INDIAN airlines carried a record 1.42 crore passengers on domestic routes in November 2024, marking the highest-ever monthly traffic.
Recharge plans for voice calls, messages to benefit customer, not telcos
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recent directive to have recharge plans exclusively for voice calls and messages without any compulsion to buy internet data will benefit customers not much to telecom service providers, say industry experts.
