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Far-reaching effects of the filter bubble, the most notorious metaphor in media studies

AI & SOCIETY (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

This article discusses the topic of algorithmic personalization and the creation of the so-called "filter bubble" effect, which is often understood as one of the most problematic influences of artificial intelligence on democratic social order. The author suggests that focusing on the issue of information diversity, which had far-reaching effect on the empirical research that tried to quantitatively measure and systematically prove the existence of the filter bubbles, was the wrong starting point for the discussion on the application of algorithmic personalization. It has drawn our attention away from the deeper issue: habit. Habitual adaptation of algorithmic personalization, namely, stands in essential contradiction to the ideal image of a non-adaptive public sphere, upon which democratic societies should be based. Focusing on habitual adaptation could also explain why users addictively stick to certain kinds of information, even if they are not caught in an isolated chamber.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Social Communication Research Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Jernej Kaluža

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Correspondence to Jernej Kaluža.

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AIS Volume: Special issue: Embedding AI in Society (EAIS)—volume to be allocated later.

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Kaluža, J. Far-reaching effects of the filter bubble, the most notorious metaphor in media studies. AI & Soc (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01399-x

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  • Received27 May 2021

  • Accepted07 February 2022

  • Published25 February 2022

  • DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01399-x

Keywords

  • Filter bubbles
  • Algorithmic personalization
  • Diversity
  • Habit
  • Public sphere

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