At the end of Professor Manovich’s article, he raises several important questions: “How does the software we use influence what we express and imagine? Shall we continue to accept the decisions made for us by algorithms if we don’t know how they operate? What does it mean to be a citizen of a software society?” These questions set off a flurry of related questions: By allowing algorithms to make these broader choices, curating data for us etc. are we, in turn, dulling our own critical capacity to decipher information, make choices etc.? Is Software- the tools we use to express our creativity, ideas, and/or feelings in the modern age- allowing us to better express these things or is it stunting this? Can this be measured or critiqued in any sort of immanent sense without it running the risk of sounding like a luddite? Important things to ponder; especially if we wish to make sense of our times.
