My name is Robin. And I suffer from Algorithmic Anxiety.

Last week, I finally faced my acute, self-diagnosed case of AA. Algorithmic Anxiety.

AA describes people (like me) who worry about a loss of agency in the face of the almighty Algorithm.

Symptoms include lemming-like following of popular, “likeable” content & an over reliance on IG, Amazon & Netflix recommendations.

In my case, I had become addicted to Pinterest mood boards. Day after day, I was told — “You have a good eye!” then was fed a diet of pristine, design-fiction farmhouses with a modern, monochromatic, utopian vibe. Stunning but saccharine room after cream-colored room filled with perfect pendant lamps, leafy houseplants & floating wooden shelves. All available with one-click purchasability on Etsy.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t replicate the (likely AI-generated) elegance to cozy up my open concept kitchen & family room. I became depressed, cranky & short-tempered. My blood pressure went through the roof.

We think we have too many choices. The fact is, we have none. Zero. Zilch. Algorithmic filters dictate our life-on-line, passively pushing products & more disturbingly, the ideas we see. Steering both our buying & belief decisions. In seconds. With not much fore or afterthought.

I began to worry “Is this what I want or what the algorithm wants me to want? Ideas pre-selected for me. Not chosen by me.”

I didn’t realize how prevalent AA was until I attended @BOF’s excellent AI Summit & listened to KyleChayka, New Yorker’s editor at large. Then I did what any worrywart does, I Googled AA & bought Kyle’s book #Filterworld, How Algorithms Flattened Culture.

The more I learned, the more convinced I became — I had a serious case.

According to Chayka, AA is a contemporary plague. It creates OCD-ish tendencies in users (like me) to be seduced by “recommender systems” that worm their way into our brains & set up house. Guessing what we want before we can decide yeh or neh. Like an obnoxious party guest who finishes your sentences before you utter them.

We are nudged into impatience & superficiality. Convenient? Efficient? A thumbs up approval definitely takes the pressure of a choice that may be too quirky. Or too original. Hence judged by others.

The incoming of recos acts like psychological dopamine akin to the cha-ching of a slot machine when matching cherries come up. Jackpot. We end up overstimulated & numb simultaneously.

News flash: The algorithm doesn’t give a crap about what is offered. It only cares that you consume it. As quickly as possible. Well, fuck that!

Is there a cure?

According to Chayka, “Resistance to algorithmic frictionlessness requires an act of willpower…To resist Filterworld, we must become our own curators once more & take responsibility for what we’re consuming.”

In Latin the word “curare” means “to take care of.” In that sense, curators are a total 180 from algorithm recos. Curators use knowledge, expertise, experience & above all personal taste to share choices for careful consideration. Each filled with intention, sensitivity, emotion & humanity.

Curation isn’t about preselecting what’s good or bad. Or catering to the majority.

It comes with a POV of what matters. Urging us to consider our own sense of taste.

Instead of whizzing mindlessly through content, we are mindful of it. Taking time to enjoy, appreciate & value different ideas.

As to taste. It has a wonderful ability to surprise & inspire wonder beyond being told what we might like. It inspires an authentic emotional response. Loving things that actually make our heart beat faster. Offering the specific vs. generic.

It invites us to leap back into the unknown rather than the preset & omnipresent.

On the road to rehabilitation, I have come to realize I really don’t like clean, minimal & overly modern. I love deep rich hues & my colorful, somewhat chaotic folk art collection. I find myself constantly lingering in my downstairs living room cluttered with books & antiques transplanted from my previous home.

I suddenly feel calmer. Agency restored.

I’m Robin.

I hope you will join me.

Let’s kick the Algorithm together.