Each algorithm can usually be represented by a set of straightforward steps, and programmers often use visual flowcharts to show their thought processes for solving each individual step with code.

(For more background, check out our first flowchart on "What is AI ... re doing when you press play on a Netflix show—you’re telling the algorithm to find similar shows.

To clear things up, I drew you this flowchart on the back of an envelope so you can work out whether something is using AI or not. This originally appeared in our AI newsletter The Algorithm.

Can I level with you? I’m not always sure I know what people are talking about when they say algorithm? You’re not alone: Honestly, I haven’t always been sure what I meant when I said it either.

A team of computer scientists has come up with a dramatically faster algorithm for one of the oldest problems in computer science: maximum flow. The problem asks how much material can flow through a ...