Algorithmic Nudges Don’t Have to Be Unethical

“Nudging” — the strategy of changing users’ behavior based on how apparently free choices are presented to them — has come a long way since the concept was popularized byUniversity of Chicago economist Richard Thaler and Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein in 2008. With so much data about individual users and with the AI to process it, companies are increasingly using algorithms to manage and control individuals — and in particular, employees. This has implications for workers’ privacy and has been deemed by some to be manipulation. The author outlines three ways ways that companies can take advantage of these strategies while staying within ethical bounds: Creating win-win situations, sharing information about data practices, and being transparent about the algorithms themselves.