I can still recall my surprise when a book by evolutionary biologist Peter Lawrence entitled The Making of a Fly came to be priced on Amazon at $23,698,655.93 (plus $3.99 shipping).

　　我依旧能回想起当时的惊讶，我看到进化生物学家彼得·劳伦斯写的一本名为《造出一只苍蝇》的书在亚马逊上的定价为23698655.93美元(外加3.99美元的运费)。

　　While my colleagues around the world must have become rather depressed that an academic book could achieve such a feat, the steep price was actually the result of algorithms feeding off each other and spiralling out of control.

　　一本学术著作能卖到这样的天价，我世界各地的同事们肯定会感到抑郁，不过这个高昂的价格实际上是算法相互叠加和失控地飙升的结果。

　　It turns out, it wasn't just sales staff being creative: algorithms were calling the shots.

　　事实证明，这不是个销售人员的创意：是运算法则定的价。

　　This eye-catching example was spotted and corrected. But what if such algorithmic interference happens all the time, including in ways we don't even notice?

　　这个瞩目的个例被发现并修正了。但是，如果这种算法干扰总是发生，并且还以我们注意不到的方式发生，那怎么办?

　　If our reality is becoming increasingly constructed by algorithms, where does this leave us humans?

　　如果我们的世界在逐渐被算法掌控，那我们人类又被置于何地?

　　Our exploration led us to the conclusion that, over time, the roles of information technology and humans have been reversed.

　　我们的探索得出这样的结论：随着时间的推移，信息技术和人类的作用已经颠倒。

　　In the past, we humans used technology as a tool. Now, technology has advanced to the point where it is using and even controlling us.

　　过去，我们人类把技术当做一种工具。而如今，技术已经发展到在利用甚至掌控我们人类的地步。

　　We humans are not merely cut off from the decisions that machines are making for us but deeply affected by them in unpredictable ways.

　　我们人类不仅被隔绝于机器为我们所做的决定之外，而且以不可预知的方式深受这些决定的影响。

　　Instead of being central to the system of decisions that affects us, we are cast out in to its environment.

　　我们不是这些影响着我们的决定的产生机制的中心，而是被动卷入其中。