Background readings to ‘Adjudication of the Algo Aunt’

The appendix of Autonomous Decisions links to basic information about the underlying issues that the stories were inspired by and lists a few discussion questions, as a starting point for looking into the non-fiction side of it all. For the “Adjudication of the Algo Aunt” short story, a key concept is algorithmic domination through automated management of employees and gig workers, and a policy vacuum due to lack of regulation whether it is acceptable to do so.

Recently, I scratched the surface about algorithmic domination some more in a blog post, and linked it specifically to the aspect of algorithmic management through ratings, and especially those algorithms that take ratings from untrained users at that. Like any Uber rider is forced to do before being allowed to order a new ride, or consumers can do of other services provided by, e.g., bank employees and the SARS agent who calls back or can provide product ratings on Goodreads, Amazon, Takealot etc. And they may rate you, too.

Read the blog post at https://keet.wordpress.com/2025/05/25/algorithmic-domination-through-ratings-in-apps-and-websites/