Skip to main content
Log in

Algorithmic recommendations

How to break information cocoons

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Machine Intelligence

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Recommender systems are a predominant feature of online platforms and one of the most widespread applications of artificial intelligence. A new model captures information dynamics driven by algorithmic recommendations and offers ways to ensure that users are exposed to diverse content and information.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Emerging information cocoons and ways to break them.

References

  1. Mansoury, M., Abdollahpouri, H., Pechenizkiy, M., Mobasher, B. & Burke, R. In Proc. 29th ACM International Conference on Information & Knowledge Management 2145–2148 (ACM, 2020).

  2. Smith, J. J., Beattie, L. & Cramer, H. In Proc. ACM Web Conference 2023 3648–3659 (ACM, 2023).

  3. Espín-Noboa, L., Wagner, C., Strohmaier, M. & Karimi, F. Sci. Rep. 12, 2012 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chaney, A. J., Stewart, B. M. & Engelhardt, B. E. In Proc. 12th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems 224–232 (ACM, 2018).

  5. Sunstein, C. R. Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge (Oxford Univ. Press, 2006).

  6. Piao, J., Liu, J., Zhang, F., Su, J. & Li, Y. Nat. Mach. Intell. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-023-00731-4 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Castells, P., Hurley, N. & Vargas, S. In Recommender Systems Handbook (eds. Ricci, F. et al.) 603–646 (Springer, 2021).

  8. Möller, J., Trilling, D., Helberger, N. & van Es, B. Info. Commun. Soc. 21, 959–977 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Huang, J., Oosterhuis, H., De Rijke, M. & Van Hoof, H. In Proc. 14th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems 190–199 (ACM, 2020).

  10. Santos, F. P., Lelkes, Y. & Levin, S. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2102141118 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bountouridis, D. et al. In Proc. 2019 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency 150–159 (ACM, 2019).

  12. Guess, A. M. et al. Science 381, 398–404 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernando P. Santos.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Santos, F.P. How to break information cocoons. Nat Mach Intell 5, 1338–1339 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-023-00758-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-023-00758-7

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation