When we talk about Charles Darwin, it is rarely in the same breath that we discuss the modern-day internet algorithms which are dividing society with selective information.

Key points: In the 1800s, eugenic theory — improving genetics through breeding — paved the way for big data analysis techniques

In the 1800s, eugenic theory — improving genetics through breeding — paved the way for big data analysis techniques Social attitudes from the time, such as racism and sexism, still contribute to the biases of modern-day algorithms

Social attitudes from the time, such as racism and sexism, still contribute to the biases of modern-day algorithms An artificial intelligence expert believes a solution is building diversity into the criteria for algorithmic techniques

But according to the author of a book examining the roots of internet prejudice, it does indeed go back to the late 1800s and Darwin's era — namely his first cousin, Francis Galton.

"After Darwin wrote Origin of Species, Francis invented the idea of eugenics, believing the way to evolve to a better society was effectively to influence the breeding of human beings," said Robert Elliott Smith from University College London.

Among other achievements, Galton has been credited with inventing surveys to collect quantitative data on humans, and he was the first to apply statistical methods to study societal differences and intelligence lineage.

He endowed the University College London (UCL) with his archives and collections and, with a bequest, funded its first Chair of Eugenics.

"The department focused very much on the analysis of data on human beings — physiological data, schoolchildren's exams, and data around people — and from that data they developed a lot of statistical algorithms," Professor Smith said.

"Those statistical algorithms are, in fact, foundational to the way we deal with big data now."

Francis Galton is believed to be the father of societal eugenic theory. ( Supplied: Wikimedia Commons )

Algorithms predict your next move

Today's internet programs utilise algorithms that take note of every interaction a person makes online, including browsing habits, location, social media scrolling, search requests, and product purchases.

The programs then use that data to customise the information — and advertising — a person sees online so its suits their preferences and anticipates their interests.

They can also do the same for news and critical information, creating what is known as a filter bubble, a narrowed feed of current affairs that generally excludes viewpoints or topics a person doesn't habitually engage with — isolating some people intellectually to the point of being uninformed.

Author Dr Robert Elliott Smith has worked in artificial intelligence for 30 years. ( Supplied: ATG Publicity )

"There was a Pew Research Center study a number of years ago that found black people in America were much more likely to see news that's relevant to issues of racial discrimination than white people," Professor Smith said.

"White people effectively did not see that same news online, because big data-analysis algorithms basically said only black people cared about those topics.

"Effectively, we've now got information segregation."

In Australia, information segregation can be witnessed on hot topics like immigration and the causes of climate change.

Rather than peer-reviewed information being disseminated online as a rule, people's news feeds — particularly those on social media platforms like Facebook — have become entangled with ideology and misinformation customised to what they want to hear, regardless of the facts.

An 1800s 'data cloud'

Professor Smith believes such algorithms utilise quantitative biases that were formed at UCL in the late 1800s.

Professors from its newly formed eugenics department took data from children's exam results and looked at it "as a cloud".

"They looked at its general shape and from that shape said, 'OK, there's one dominant axis in this cloud, and that axis seems to indicate that children who do better on some exams, tend to do better on all exams'," Professor Smith said.

"They took big data, analysed it, and found something that proved the theory they already believed in, the idea that intelligence was inherently genetic."

Social media is an outlet for increasingly narrow views of the world for many people. ( ABC The Drum )

Internet algorithms in the present day, run by artificial intelligence, also form data clouds that are "chopped up" into groups to match generalised groups of people.

"These algorithms have inherent biases in them — the kind of questions they ask initially influences the results they get," Professor Smith said.

He said social attitudes from the 1800s had been built into those biases, including elements of racism and sexism that were commonplace during Darwin and Galton's era.

"Different cloud groups are being delivered different kinds of messages, both in terms of advertising, and ultimately, are being targeted for things like politics," Professor Smith said.

"But in my opinion, purely quantitative treatments of humans in society are always flawed and biased because human beings are, in fact, very complex."

Building diversity into algorithms

Professor Smith has 30 years' experience working in artificial intelligence and talks about his findings and theories in his new book, Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All.

He will also be presenting his theories during Planet Talks at the Womadelaide music, dance and art festival in Adelaide during March.

Professor Smith believes the solution is ensuring "diversity" is a basis for new AI algorithms because a "canned solution" to establishing their criteria does not work.

"We need to look at social science outside the purely quantitative framework that's been looked at for the past 150 years, and to start seeing a more complex view of humans and their society," he said.

"Scientists are interested, people at the big tech firms are interested, but the big tech firms are ultimately driven by profit and they are legally mandated to be."

Governments, he said, did not share the same appetite to address the problem.

"I see governments exploiting the problems with information delivery and creating more polarisation than trying to fix the problems," Professor Smith said.

Internet not to blame

There are, of course, opposing opinions about the cause of rising political polarisation.

This includes the University of Oxford's Grant Blank and University of Ottawa's Elizabeth Dubois whose joint paper published last year considered such theories to be "overstated".

They said only a small proportion of society was caught inside filter bubbles, or "echo chambers", and tended to be "politically uninterested".

From their own quantitative study, involving 148 respondents, the two professors said this segment of the population was small — about 8 per cent— and generally had little influence on society.

Those who were politically engaged, they argued, were more likely to search multiple sources of information and were subsequently more likely to come across views alternative to their own.

Their research was funded by Google, the world's biggest search engine. It is one of the first papers an online search on the topic delivers.

Covert activities worse than ads

Professor Smith pointed to non-profit verification network First Draft, which recently claimed nearly 90 per cent of Conservative Facebook ads that appeared during the last week of election campaigning in the UK were misleading.

It said the Conservatives spent more than 50,000 pounds for nearly 7,000 Facebook ads between November 27 and December 3 in a blitz that took advantage of the social media giant's controversial attitude to factual content.

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Professor Smith said paid political ads were not the worst of it.

"The worst of it is the covert activity that goes on through fake accounts and manipulations that are very difficult to detect," he said.

"That's going to require real policing and regulation to stop."

Despite the challenges, Professor Smith was hopeful the tide would turn.

"I think the world will ultimately evolve to a better place," he said.