Machine Learning or ML uses algorithms and statistical models that allow a computer to progressively improve its performance for a specific task . This is critical for creating more useful and realistic AI machines.

For example, ML systems are used to filter “spam” emails, learning not only from you, but from other users, which emails are acceptable and which are not. More extensively, ML is used for learning our routines in order to make traveling suggestions, and, in the future, may actually be used with AI to drive our cars.

However, ML can also be used for censoring content deemed offensive by a controlling party, learning your purchasing habits to promote products to you, and delivering propaganda that is most likely to sway your opinions.

Although widely used by modern applications from email to computer security, we are often unaware of the invisible hand of ML systems in digital communication affecting what we see, what we do, and what we hear.