--- title: Five Best Ideas: Algorithms Secretly Run the World description: How algorithms secretly run the world, these six women created a device that could change lives in the blind community forever and more. canonical: https://time.com/4673204/algorithms-secretly-run-the-world/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-16T17:00:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:03.820Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Algorithms Secretly Run the World og:description: And four more of today's best ideas og:url: https://time.com/4673204/algorithms-secretly-run-the-world/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Algorithms Secretly Run the World twitter:description: And four more of today's best ideas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Algorithms Secretly Run the World by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Feb 16, 2017 5:00 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Feb 16, 2017 5:00 PM UTC **1\.** [**How algorithms secretly run the world.**](https://www.yahoo.com/news/algorithms-secretly-run-world-061905775.html) By Rob Lever at _Yahoo News_ **2\.** [**These six women created a device that could change lives in the blind community forever.**](http://mashable.com/2017/02/07/team-tactile-braille-display/#olRD9e33USqX) By Matt Petronzio in _Mashable_ **3\.** [**Is it too late for a ‘digital Geneva Convention’ to govern cyber-warfare?**](https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2017/02/14/need-digital-geneva-convention/#sm.00013ih3kuk7zdoephi21h1e2jv63) By Brad Smith at _Microsoft_ **4\.** [**Electric buses are cheaper than diesel or natural gas. They could take over the market.**](https://electrek.co/2017/02/13/electric-buses-proterra-ceo/) By Fred Lambert in _Electrek_ **5\.** [**Here are four ways governors can fight the opioid epidemic.**](https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/15/governors-combat-opioid-epidemic/) By Doug Tieman in _STAT_  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4673204/algorithms-secretly-run-the-world/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4673204/algorithms-secretly-run-the-world/"},"headline":"Algorithms Secretly Run the World","datePublished":"2017-02-16T17:00:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:03.820Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4673204/algorithms-secretly-run-the-world/","keywords":["Five Best Ideas","Innovation","opioid epidemic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/five-best-ideas/","name":"Five Best Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4673204/algorithms-secretly-run-the-world/","name":"Algorithms Secretly Run the World"}}]}] ```