algorithm

Noun

algorithm (countable and uncountable, plural algorithms)

1. (countable) A collection of ordered steps that solve a mathematical problem. A precise step-by-step plan for a computational procedure that possibly begins with an input value and yields an output value in a finite number of steps.
   • Informally, an algorithm is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value, or set of values, as input and produces some value, or set of values, as output. An algorithm is thus a sequence of computational steps that transform the input into the output.1990, Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest, Introduction to Algorithms: page 1. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 1999 (23rd printing)
   • Mark Zuckerberg: No, I need the algorithm you used to rank chess players. / Eduardo Saverin: Are you OK? / Mark Zuckerberg: We're ranking girls.2010, Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
2. (broadly) A flowchart illustrating a decision-making process for human users, especially health care professionals.
   • This retrospective observational analysis evaluated BP [blood pressure] control in an entirely remote management program before and during the pandemic. A team of pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physicians, and nonlicensed navigators used an evidence‐based clinical algorithm to optimize...2023, Lee SG, Blood AJ, Cannon CP, Gordon WJ, Nichols H, Zelle D, Scirica BM, Fisher NDL, “Remote cardiovascular hypertension program enhanced blood pressure control during the COVID-19 pandemic”, in...
3. (obsolete, uncountable) Calculation with Arabic numerals; algorism.
4. (metonymically, social media, usually preceded by definite article "the") software that makes content display determinations on a platform, in totality of effect upon all end users (within a potential audience).
5. (broadly, informal, metonymically, social media) the influenced zeitgeist: e.g. what content ends up trending or viral, what persons become a main character or cancelled
   • Glover began his acceptance speech by saying, “First, I want to thank the great algorithm that put us all here.”2018 February 26, Tad Friend, quoting Donald Glover, “Donald Glover Can’t Save You”, in The New Yorker
6. (informal, metonymically, social media, usually preceded by a possessive determiner) the actual personalized selections of content seen by specific user(s), the microtargeting to which they are subject
   • … you and I probably didn't run across that in our algorithm, but that doesn't mean that a lot of people aren't gonna run across garbage like that in their algorithms in the next couple weeks…2024 October 23, Ben Rhodes, “Trump Blames Zelensky for War, Sucks Up to Saudis” (23:52 from the start), in Pod Save the World (podcast)