What I'm saying (what I literally had in mind) is this. Isaac Newton was able to describe the behavior of gravity with a very simple equation. His law is still good, for all but the most extreme situations. And it took a load of intelligence for him to do his work. But this says nothing about the origin of gravity. Just because it takes a Newton to understand the law doesn't mean it took a Newton -- or anyone -- to create the law.
I see an algorithm as considerably more than an equation. An equation describes a relationship whereas an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure. In addition to process (which could relate to an equation) - an algorithm can have conditionals, symbolizations and recursives.
To use a simpler example, if the inception of biological life requires autonomy, symbolization and finite state machine processes, then it is much more than a simple equation.
On a cosmic scale, I wonder if the changing balance between dark energy and dark mass (accelerating universe) also points to an autonomous finite state machine process; likewise, why there are but three generations of quarks and leptons and but three gauge forces.