Toward responsible convenience: a conceptual framework for promoting care in AI recommender systems

Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven recommender systems increasingly mediate how we consume information, buy products, and form connections. In this conceptual paper, we argue that these systems operationalize two fundamental dimensions of convenience: immediacy and egocentrism. These dimensions of convenience orient users away from long-term, allocentric perspectives and the preservation of agency necessary for responsible engagement with digital technologies. To frame our analysis, we develop a bidimensional model of deliberative space shaped by two opposing forces, convenience and care, and introduce responsible convenience as a normative ideal and conceptual framework for ethical development, regulation, and use of AI-powered recommender systems. Based on hermeneutic methodology and narrative theory, we theorize how structured narrative engagement could raise ethical awareness among users, developers, and regulators, amplifying the force of care and counteracting convenience. A close reading of Gary Shteyngart’s novel Super Sad True Love Story illustrates how narratives may prompt deliberation on the long-term consequences of algorithmically mediated human connection. Future empirical work could examine whether, how, and under what institutional conditions narrative engagement expands temporal and interpersonal horizons and translates care into behavioral, design, or regulatory change.