We are and always have been surrounded by algorithms, both natural and synthetic. The ways that trees seek light, the path of a river through a valley, even evolution itself: these can all be described by fairly simple rules that manifest in beautifully complex and unpredictable ways.
Today, we are surrounded by synthetic algorithms, with more immediate and sometimes more harmful effects. Our perception of everything is influenced by the algorithms of companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google, who use algorithms at incredible scale to derive profit.