Say it like this

A list of steps for getting something done, written out so carefully that a machine can follow it.

For the grown-up

An algorithm is an ordered set of instructions that turns an input into an output. A recipe qualifies. So does the rule your phone uses to decide which photo to show you first. The word sounds technical mostly because of where children usually meet it, but the concept is older than computers by several thousand years.

The easy mistake

Careful here. An algorithm is not intelligent and does not decide anything on its own. Somebody wrote the steps. When a result seems unfair or strange, the question is who wrote the steps and what they were trying to achieve, not what the algorithm wanted.

The full explanation

What Is a Search Engine?

A glossary entry is the short version. This one has the child explanation, the grown-up explanation, the questions and an activity.

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Words next to this one

Artificial Intelligence A computer that has looked at so many examples it can start guessing about things it has never seen before. Computer A machine that follows instructions very fast and never gets bored of doing the same thing again. Search Engine A helper that already went and looked at nearly everything, so it can tell you where to go. Pattern Something that keeps happening the same way, so you can start guessing what comes next.