Algorithms now determine how much things cost. It’s called dynamic pricing and it adjusts according to current market conditions in order to increase profits. The rise of ecommerce has propelled pricing algorithms into an everyday occurrence—whether you’re shopping on Amazon, booking a flight, hotel or ordering an Uber.

We Meet:

Lisa Wilkins, UX designer
Gabe Smith, chief evangelist, Pricefx
Aylin Caliskan, assistant professor, University of Washington
Joseph Harrington, professor of business, economics and public policy, University of Pennsylvania
Maxime Cohen, Scale AI Chair professor, McGill University

Credits:

This episode was reported by Anthony Green and produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. We’re edited by Mat Honan and our mix engineer is Garret Lang, with sound design and music by Jacob Gorski.

In Machines We Trust: How pricing algorithms learn to collude 24:33 Share

MIT Technology Review Narrated

Shownotes Transcript

In Machines We Trust: How pricing algorithms learn to collude