This essay aims to address the question of whether algorithms, which underlie the operation of the Internet and artificial intelligence, have really changed the nature of the problem concerning the limits of human knowledge – an issue which Hayek had identified since his writings in the second half of the 1930s. Indeed, these are tools that have, and will increasingly have, an extraordinary and unprecedented ability to collect, aggregate, and manage information about individual preferences and desires, the existing supply and demand for goods and services, and so on. The question then posed by some is whether the price mechanism, understood as an indicator of the value of goods and individual preferences, and competition, understood as the process of discovering what does not yet exist, can be replaced by the use of increasingly sophisticated algorithms. The Hayekian theory of knowledge leads to a negative answer to this question.
Algorithms and the Abuse of Reason. Reflections from Friedrich A. von Hayek’s Theory of Knowledge
Antonio Masala
2024-01-01
Abstract
This essay aims to address the question of whether algorithms, which underlie the operation of the Internet and artificial intelligence, have really changed the nature of the problem concerning the limits of human knowledge – an issue which Hayek had identified since his writings in the second half of the 1930s. Indeed, these are tools that have, and will increasingly have, an extraordinary and unprecedented ability to collect, aggregate, and manage information about individual preferences and desires, the existing supply and demand for goods and services, and so on. The question then posed by some is whether the price mechanism, understood as an indicator of the value of goods and individual preferences, and competition, understood as the process of discovering what does not yet exist, can be replaced by the use of increasingly sophisticated algorithms. The Hayekian theory of knowledge leads to a negative answer to this question.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
