The Algorithmic Society: Technology, Power, and Knowledge

We live in an algorithmic society. Artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms have become the main mediators through which power and knowledge are enacted in our society. This book brings together three academic fields – Public Administration, Criminal Justice, and Urban Governance – into a single conceptual framework and offers a broad cultural‑political analysis, addressing critical and ethical issues of AI and algorithms.

Governments are increasingly turning towards AI tools to predict criminality, deliver public services, allocate resources, and calculate recidivism rates. Mind‑boggling amounts of data regarding our daily actions are analysed to make decisions that manage, control, and nudge our behaviour in everyday life. The contributions in this book offer a broad analysis of the mechanisms and social implications of algorithmic governance. Reporting from the cutting edge of scientific research, the result is illuminating and useful for understanding the relations between AI, power, and knowledge.

This new revised and updated edition includes topics such as:

• Algorithmic governmentality
• Transparency and accountability
• Fairness in criminal justice and predictive policing
• Principles of good digital administration
• Digital sovereignty and responsible AI
• AI and the smart city

This book is essential reading for students and scholars of Sociology, Criminology, Public Administration, Political Sciences, and Cultural Theory interested in the integration of AI and algorithms into the governance of society.

Marc Schuilenburg is Professor of Digital Surveillance at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of 14 books, and focuses in his work on the way in which public safety and policing is changing due to the rise of AI and algorithms.

Rik Peeters is Research Professor of Public Administration at the Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), Mexico City. He analyses the interactions between state and citizens through studies of bureaucracy, digital government, and administrative burdens.