Need a hypothesis? Try AI

Machine-learning algorithms seem to have insinuated their way into every human activity short of toenail clipping and dog washing, although the tech giants may have solutions in the works for both. If Alexa knows about such projects, she’s not saying.

But one thing that algorithms presumably cannot do — besides feel heartbreak — is formulate theories to explain human behaviour or account for the varying blend of motives behind it. They are computer systems; they can’t play Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung, at least not convincingly. Social scientists have used algorithms as tools, to number-crunch and test-drive ideas, and potentially predict behaviours — like how people will vote or who is likely to engage in self-harm — secure in the knowledge that ultimately humans are the ones who sit in the big-thinking chair.