Persons and Personalization on Digital Platforms: A Philosophical Perspective

This chapter explores personalization and its connection to the philosophical concept of the person, arguing that a deeper understanding of the human person and a good society is essential for ethical personalization. Insights from artificial intelligence (AI), philosophy, law, and more are employed to examine personalization technology. The authors present a unified view of personalization as automated control of human environments through digital platforms and new forms of AI, while also illustrating how platforms can use personalization to control and modify persons' behavior. The ethical implications of these capabilities are discussed in relation to concepts of personhood to autonomy, privacy, and self-determination within European AI and data protection law. Tentative principles are proposed to better align personalization technology with democratic values, and future trends in personalization for business and public policy are considered. Overall, the chapter seeks to uncover unresolved tensions among philosophical, technological, and economic viewpoints of personalization.