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Opinion
Cathy O'Neil

Trump Is a Machine-Learning Algorithm Gone Wrong

His bizarre behavior suggests he’s running low on data.

Malfunction?

Malfunction?

Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

Remember the Magic School Bus, the animated series in which a somewhat demented school teacher named Ms. Frizzle (catchphrase: “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”) takes her class on mind-bending adventures? In one episode, she reduces the bus to microscopic size and takes her charges into the bloodstream of an ill classmate. You see the kids swimming around in tiny wetsuits that they happened to bring along, watching white blood cells battle infectious invaders.

Well, that’s what I was thinking about yesterday. The venue wasn’t a school, it was the White House press briefing room. Instead of an eccentric science nerd, it was President Donald Trump talking about injecting disinfectant or UV rays into people’s bodies to clear away the coronavirus. And instead of bringing us home safely on the bus, he might do anything next.