In a way that we have normalised, digital technology silently shapes out our daily lives. We even call the members of the youngest generations ‘digital natives’. It is precisely because of this digital normalcy that we sometimes forget to think about our relationship with the instruments that design and prefigure our lives though digital engineering. In this edition of the Observatory Café, Marta del Amo, a journalist who specialises in science and technology, reflects on artificial intelligence, algorithms and the benefits and pitfalls involved in the use of digital technology now and in the future.