Before revision:  Even worse, the role played by YouTube's recommendation algorithm in unwittingly promoting questionable content is not well understood, and could potentially make the problem even worse. This can have dire real-world consequences, especially when pseudoscientific content is promoted to users at critical times, e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After revision:  Even worse, the role played by YouTube's recommendation algorithm in unwittingly promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories is not entirely understood. Yet, this can have dire real-world consequences, especially when pseudoscientific content is promoted to users at critical times, e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic.