Algorithms that rule us

Philosophical reflections on critical properties of the information revolution current structure

Abstract

The aim of this article is to reflect on the structure of the digital revolution, based on the influence of Big Techs on the behavior of people and societies. To understand the negative impacts, we will first analyze the infrastructure of the system, highlighting the internet, the relationship of hyperconnectivity and the use of Big Data, which is presented according to Floridi, as the environment of hyperhistory and the onlife mode of existence. Next, we will address algorithmic manipulation in behavioral modulation, exemplifying it in politics and in the economy, discussing microtargeting and management systems of harmful algorithms, the AMD. Followed by a critical reflection on the interface of this structure with the digital economy, we arrive at digital colonialism and data colonialism. Finally, I suggest a more incisive participation of philosophical thought on this structure that governs increasingly deeper dimensions of human existence, both in the form of a new ethical information paradigm, and in the construction of concepts opposing certain aspects of the structure.