Breaking Free from Algorithmic Influence

Increasingly, algorithms are affecting the culture we consume (the news we read, the music we hear, the restaurants where we dine) and the culture that gets made (physical spaces are designed to be Instagrammable; art that can’t be marketed online may not be created). But, as you’ll hear Kyle Chayka, author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, explain today, the algorithms are also deeply influencing our identity. Instead of “exploring the weirdness of our own taste,” we just consume whatever is served to keep us most engaged and stimulated. In the same way that you need stress to experience growth, we need the friction of exploration to discern our preferences and develop a sense of self. Without that friction, how do we know who we are, or what we like? These are the important questions at the heart of the conversation today.

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