Beyond the data: AI, decision-making and the media ecosystem

Artificial intelligence (AI) now exerts a marked influence on decision-making across many fields, from the personalized selection of content on social media to medical diagnostics and staff recruitment. Yet the widespread assumption that data-driven algorithms are objective raises profound philosophical and ethical questions. This article critically examines the notion of algorithmic objectivity and the phenomenon of filter bubbles through three philosophical lenses: George Edward Moore’s naturalistic fallacy, Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s critical theory of the culture industry, and Adela Cortina’s applied ethics. The analysis centres on algorithmic systems designed for classification, regression and clustering tasks; generative AI, which poses additional challenges of authorship and creativity, lies outside the present scope.