Algorithms in our Daily Life

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Algorithms in our Daily Life

Introduction:

Today, in the era of modern developing science we are surrounded by algorithms. Our technology is much centred around algorithms. Anything you do online or on the computer is possible because of algorithms. The pdf you read, the cab you book, the clothes you buy online, the text you send to your friend, social networking you use, all depend on algorithms. Not only in computational science but the development of astronomy, medical science, microbiology and mathematics in the past few decades is also made due to the creation of various algorithms. Algorithms in many senses have penetrated our daily lives. But how exactly do these algorithms which we merely know about influence our lives? This is what we are about to discuss.

Technically, an algorithm is a sequence of precise instructions formulated to solve a particular problem. This sequence of instructions is used to provide us various services. Algorithms are developed to provide faster execution, search, and sorting of data, to provide security and to maintain data. Algorithms are proved to be very useful to use, but if formulated incorrectly or used unethically, they can also create various security and privacy issues.

Algorithms in Daily Life:

Here a few examples are listed where we indirectly use an algorithm. We might don't even know the techniques to develop an algorithm but someone, in another corner of the world has developed algorithms for us to make our lives easy and fast.

(1) Google: Several sorting algorithms are used by Google to provide the best result to us. We can even say that Google is a whole ocean of algorithms. The word you search, the result to get, and the ad you watch are all possible because of algorithms. Hundreds of parameters are considered before developing these sorting algorithms. These algorithms also check for plagiarism and the originality of web content.  

(2) Mobile Camera: Your beautiful selfies and funny snaps also use algorithms. Our face automatically gets beautified when we take a selfie, various filters you use to capture any image and the funny cat faces you get applying a snap filter are possible because of highly advanced and precisely developed algorithms. These algorithms mainly work at the pixel level to change colours or to add new layers. 

(3) Maps: Online map services like Google Maps use various algorithms to show you the shortest path or to display the traffic levels. When you enter a source and destination location, it is now the work of an algorithm to calculate the shortest path for you.

(4) Ola/Uber: Online cab services uses algorithms to show you the nearest cab you can book. Uber automatically shows you the best possible and nearest cab for you using the algorithms. It automatically calculated the ride cost depending upon your destination location. 

(5) Youtube: One of the best use of algorithms is made by Youtube. It uses sorting and priority algorithms to provide you with the best result for your search. It also shows recommendations based on your watch history. More than 800 million videos and more than 67 million different channels are handled precisely by these algorithms. 

(6) Social Media: It's quite obvious that social media is impossible without algorithms. Facebook shows you friend recommendations, it reminds you of the birthdays of your friends, Instagram shows you a never-ending list of reels, and Whatsapp even allows online payments, all these amazing features are because of algorithms. Your likes, comments, shares, subscriptions and friend lists are all maintained by algorithms.

Algorithms in Mathematics:

It is obvious that humans have limited calculation speed. We can solve a mathematical problem up to a certain extent only. That's why we use computers to ease our calculations. From basic daily calculations to complex scientific calculations, we use different algorithms. The calculator you use daily has an algorithm and highly advanced computers researchers use also has algorithms. 

Earlier, mathematics was done purely on paper. However, with the developments of computers and calculators, mathematics is also digitalized. With the digitalization of mathematics, the demand for special algorithms that would perform complex calculations also increased. Today, computers can perform any calculation you want. Trigonometry, logarithms, calculus and even graphs and statistics are done with these algorithms.     

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