From swiping through endless Netflix suggestions to the eerie accuracy of Spotify's new A.I. DJ, recommendation algorithms have become the puppet masters of our digital lives. Meta-owned Instagram introduced the feature to its own feed last July, showing users recommended posts from accounts they don't follow, which caused an uproar so large that even Kylie Jenner shared a petition to "Make Instagram Instagram again."
Now, a year later, Meta is pulling back the curtain on the invisible calculations that caused so much turbulence. In a blog post from Meta's president of global affairs Nick Clegg, the company announced it'll be publishing 22 “system cards," which will provide insights into Facebook and Instagram's AI ranking systems and predictions. Meta also plans to expand the "Why Am I Seeing This?" feature, which shows a user why they've been served recommended content, to its TikTok clone "Reels."
