Fuelled by opportunism

Algorithms. A decade ago we had no idea how much our lives could be influenced by this geeky sounding technology.  

Sometime algorithms can work in your favour (I had at least a few passable dates when I let a computer try and match me up with Mr Right), but sometimes they don’t. 

News is that a company called a3c has developed algorithms that will change the price of fuel at peak times. So not only could peak time see you sitting in traffic; it could also see you being charged royally for the pleasure. 

The Director behind the company, Martin McTague, said that the company was “in advanced discussions with supermarkets and other large retailers” about introducing the technology in the UK. Apparently, it is already used in the USA and Germany, where fuel prices can change ten times during one day. 

It’s likely that fuel would cost more during the day time and less in the night. This means, says McTague, that drivers could save money by fuelling up at the cheaper times. 

I’m dubious. Drivers wouldn’t be given any advance notice about when prices would change and seeing as van drivers often have a job of getting from A to B by a certain time, it’s also unlikely that they’d be able to plan their days and nights around hitting the algorithm’s sweet spot. 

Let’s wait and see where this one goes…