Is algorithmic mediation always bad for autonomy?

Life is a navigation problem. There are too many places to go and too many paths to take, too many things to try and too many skills to learn. For many of us, choice can be paralyzing. The ancients meditated on what sort of life we ought to live, but today we wonder how best to spend our time when faced with an endless supply of ideas and experiences. One way we solve the problem is by asking for help. We speak to our friends about the music they like and browse lists on the internet about the best new books. We get recommendations that help us determine how best to spend our time. But recommendations are no longer the preserve of humans; in fact, the vast majority of them – at least as it relates to media or travel – are already provided by machines. What movie to watch or what route to take are questions answered by AI systems designed to keep you coming back for more. These systems remind us that technology pervades our lives, that we make decisions under conditions that we don’t al

Life is a navigation problem. There are too many places to go and too many paths to take, too many things to try and too many skills to learn. For many of us, choice can be paralyzing. The ancients meditated on what sort of life we ought to live, but today we wonder how best to spend our time when faced with an endless supply of ideas and experiences. One way we solve the problem is by asking for help. We speak to our friends about the music they like and browse lists on the internet about the best new books. We get recommendations that help us determine how best to spend our time. But recomme