Algorithms, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: Implications for the Future of the Workplace (Future of Work) (The Future of Work) by Gavin Brown

1 NOW I KNOW MY ABC (ALGORITHMS,
BLOCKCHAIN AND
CRYPTOCURRENCY)
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents an introduction to algorithms, blockchain and
cryptocurrency (ABC) and discusses their implications for the world of
work. In particular, we note that it is the convergence of these new
technologies that have the paradigm-shifting effect.
ALGORITHMS AND WORK
We begin this book with a gentle explainer to the main technologies. In the
following sections, the introductions to ABC and their respective
implications for work are intended to be, as non-technical as possible,
introductions to the individual technologies. Several excellent, more
technical, explanations exist in the literature, but for the purposes of this
book, we want anyone regardless of their technical familiarity to be gently
introduced to ABC and their respective implications for the world of work.
An Introduction to Algorithms
Algorithms seem to be an opaque and impenetrable concept; however,
fundamentally they are simply a precise set of instructions to complete a
task or process, generate an output, or simply turn A into B. Algorithms are
everywhere, making the technology we use work and governing our simple
decisions. Whilst the ones running your phone, payments, computer, car
and so on are often unimaginably complex, the concept itself is delightfully
simple. Simply, an algorithm is a precise set of instructions or formula for
solving a problem or doing a task. In a computing sense, we use algorithms
to tell a computer how to do a given task.
When we consider any algorithm as a set of precise instructions and not
simply as a purely computational topic, we can see that algorithms are
simply all around us. Recipes are algorithms, transactions are algorithms, as
is the process of cleaning your home, solving an equation or even your
daily commute.
As described above, a useful way to grasp the idea of framing an
algorithm is to write your own commute as an algorithm. Soon you will be
using important computational concepts such as repetition (brake when red
light, gas when green), sequencing (board bus then pay) and conditional
logic (if sunny, walk). With practice and precision, you will be able to
accurately create an algorithm for your commute that others could follow.
Part of the skill, though, is getting a computer to follow these instructions;
another human following your commute instructions will have an inherent
knowledge which can cover the imprecision in your instructions. For
example, board bus and pay; is a human instruction which covers all aspects
of interaction and a multitude of different scenarios. However, it doesn’t
specify, for example, a request for ‘exact change only’, an unspecified
queueing scenario, and so on. A human would know what to do in these
situations; unless it is specified in the algorithm, a computer would not have
an appropriate response.
However, we can see with increasing complexity that any process or task
can be broken down into a series of instructions or commands. In this book,
we assume that most if not all work will be algorithmised, and we term each
instruction a microtask.

Algorithms, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: Implications for the Future of the Workplace (Future of Work) (The Future of Work) by Gavin Brown