FILTER BUBBLE AND BIG NUDGING

PARTICIPATORY DECOMOCRACY IN THE ERA OF ALGORITHM

Abstract

This article works with the hypothesis that there is a current correlation – although it may initially seem strange or distant – between the following concepts: democracy, Artificial Intelligence (A.I), big data and machine learning. It argues that democracy - with regard to political participation in the choices of the State - is directly impacted today by two major technological factors: a) the idea of the filter bubble, a concept created to delimit the result from the performance of the algorithms that are used in online activities to personalize the content presented to the user based on their activities; and b) through Big Nudging, a term used to define the combination of nudging techniques – architecture of choice – with big data tools, in which the profiles of citizens are collected, constructed and used as guidelines for the elaboration of government policies and ideological manipulation. Furthermore, it argues that although technology can be a possible threat to political participation, there is a relevant positive point, which consists of the approximation of participatory spheres through the resources of social networks. With regards to the methodology, the objectives are explored by the inductive method, in a descriptive and explanatory way, mainly based on bibliographic texts and research on the subject.

Key-words: Nudging; Artificial intelligence; Filter Bubble; Democracy; Big data.