Somehow, computers outsmarting humans in games tend to get way more attention than in areas in which the consequences will be a lot more far-reaching. Take medicine. Algorithms are already beating humans’ accuracy in analysing brain scans or detecting skin cancer. This New Yorker piece offers a deep dive on how it works and what it means. (Plus, and that alone is worth the click: the definitive illustration of the mind-body-problem)

From Weekly Filet #236, in June 2017.