The Algorithim of You
From Ada Lovelace to LinkedIn loops, how I’m learning to rewrite my own rules.
Hey Beautiful Souls,
Happy Thursday to you and IF you're new here, welcome! 😊
Before we get started (yup, it’s a long one), let’s put our laptops to sleep for five minutes and head to a comfy spot where we can just BE.
First things first, I have a story I’d love to share with you. (It was inspired by Nigel Toons Book, “How AI Thinks”)
The Worlds first Female Computer Programmer
The year is 1843.
A brilliant woman named Ada Lovelace (yes, she was Lord Byron’s daughter) sat down to write something for a machine that hadn’t even been built yet, a machine imagined by Charles Babbage, considered by some to be the father of the computer!
Ada believed this machine wouldn’t just crunch numbers. She saw it composing music, exploring ideas, even creating.
And in doing so, she wrote what we now call the world’s first computer algorithm.
Just madness to think that was over 180 years ago 🫨
Anyway, fast-forward to today, algorithms write with us in ChatGPT, choose our next song on Apple Music, and, well... don't even get me started on social media.
The point is, Ada was onto something.
Short on time? Here’s your drive-through takeaway:
Create for yourself, not the algorithm.
Your daily habits are personal algorithms, yes, even making your morning filter coffee.
AI systems can get stuck in "overfitting", just like us when we repeat patterns that don’t serve us.
You can influence algorithms (yes, even Google and LinkedIn) with intentional actions. I can teach you to speak Boolean, which can break the Google algo and get your own precise results.
Algorithms are powerful but not neutral, so choose your inputs wisely.
The Algorithm of You
So, its true, I’ve been rewriting my own algorithms.
My first big behavioural algo change this year? Choosing sobriety.
That, and ten minutes of daily ab work from YouTube that I still curse at, as haven’t worked that area for decades (oops).
I am proud though as its not easy to consciously show up each day, and choose to be this new version of me.
Its not been easy and , yet I would say to you, “Do it!”
Warning: this path can stir up a bit of anxiety (thankfully, I balance it out with some deep yogic breathing😹)
Other updates to my personal algorithm include? Saying yes to public speaking, live workshops, and camera-on Zoom calls.
My algorithm now includes doing scary new things, though thankfully, one at a time.
And that’s really all an algorithm actually is: a sequence. A set of steps. A habit loop.
My morning one? Wake up. Quick Stretch & a Yawn. Coffee. Kiss husband. Cuddle my woofs.
There you have it, that’s my Morning Wake up algorithm.
An Ingenious Spark from Kevin Kelly
I watched a podcast recently between Kevin Kelly and Dan Shipper (CEO of Every).
Kevin had just read a book about electricity and said something that really stuck:
When electricity was first discovered, it took humanity years to understand what it could actually do.
People didn’t immediately see how it could light cities or power innovation.
Even the greatest minds needed time to let it sink in.
That’s where I feel we are with AI and algorithms today.
We’ve lit the spark and we’re now figuring out what it can do, one day at a time.
Algorithms Are Everywhere
You’ve used quite a few today already:
That new supper recipe you followed? Algorithm.
Your GPS Maps App? Algorithm.
Your Linkedin feed? One big algorithm guessing what’ll keep you scrolling.
A People’s Guide to AI
Part of why I’m writing about algorithms this month is because of a booklet that got me musing about how I see them.
It’s called A People’s Guide to AI, and this one paragraph stuck with me:
“We can’t talk about AI or machine learning without talking about algorithms.
This is because algorithms are the basic building blocks of AI.
In fact, algorithms are the building blocks of computer programs in general.
But even more than that, they’re the building blocks of how many of us live our lives.”
And that’s exactly it.
Algorithms aren’t just tech, they reflect how we make choices and influence the habits we stick to each day.
If you want to read the whole booklet, it’s free and beautifully written: A People’s Guide to AI (PDF).
Let’s Talk About LinkedIn
I love confusing the LinkedIn algorithm. 🤣
One week I’m building AI virtual team members on Chipp, and the next, I’m hosting a Kundalini wellness retreat.
Lets just say that I like to keep things interesting, and that I’m an ecletcic mix of NoCode building, teaching hiring workshops , teaching gentle yoga, building community, and and and.
And because I post across all these spaces, the algorithm can’t quite figure me out.
That’s cool with me, because I get to choose what’s really ME, not what the machine thinks I should be.
It recently offered me a bunch of jobs I wasn’t interested in.
LinkedIn was trying to read me. And I’m OK with keeping it guessing.
Now… Google
Google is one massive algorithm.
Every search, a tiny prediction. A guess.
But here’s the cool part: you can break it. You can talk back to it.
When I teach workshops on Boolean search, this is exactly what I share.
Don’t just accept what Google gives you.
Use tools like AND, OR, and quotation marks. Ask better questions. Guide the algorithm.
The Algo Reflects Us
Our patterns. Our routines. Our choices.
So ask yourself:
What loops am I stuck in?
What am I letting the machine decide for me?
What new pattern do I want to try?
Unresolved Questions About Algorithms (Even in 2025)
Some big stuff is still unclear.
1. The "Black Box" Problem
Some advanced AI systems (like deep learning models) are black boxes, even their creators can’t fully explain how they work.
So, should we trust something we can’t understand?
2. Can Algorithms Truly Be Creative?
Yes, AI can write and draw, but is it creating, or just remixing what it’s learned?
3. Ethics and Morality in Code
Can we teach algorithms right from wrong?
What if a self-driving car must choose between two lives? These dilemmas aren’t easy, but machines are being will be asked to make these kinds of choices in the near future.
4. The Hidden Costs
Training big models eats up energy, some use as much power as a car’s entire lifetime. And on top of that, social media algorithms mess with how we feel and focus.
So what now?
I say, we stay awake and we ask better questions.
Glossary of Key Algorithm Concepts (Hopefully Explained Simply)
1. Overfitting
When an algorithm memorizes too much and can’t adapt.
Like a student who knows the answers but can’t explain them.
2. Bias vs. Variance
Bias: Oversimplifying. All swans are white.
Variance: Overreacting to every change.
3. Optimization
Finding the best way forward with what you’ve got.
4. Black Box
A system that gives results, but doesn’t show its working.
5. Training Data
The examples algorithms learn from.
6. Generalization
Using what’s learned in one case to handle new stuff.
7. Feedback Loop
When what the algorithm shows you affects what you click next, and the cycle continues.
8. Garbage In, Garbage Out
Bad input = bad results.
Your Rewrite Starts Here
You are allowed to change your own source code.
So take a moment.
And ask yourself: Is this the result I truly want?
If not, rewrite the steps.
Thats it for this month, see you in June :)
Big love always,
Nix G
Cape Town
P.S. One of the BEST videos I’ve come across on algorithms is this one by Dr. Malan, he’s a brilliant teacher and breaks it down beautifully: Watch it here.