Algorithms can nudge people to good or bad decisions

People make decisions that are far from optimal. Concerning their personal health, economics, and the wellbeing of others, whether people or planet.

Algorithms nudge people toward making better or worse decisions. Currently, many algorithms nudge people toward worse decisions, including social media addiction, impulsive shopping behaviors, overspending, and unsustainable consumption.

It is a great collective loss when algorithms nudge people toward worse decisions. And it is a great collective gain when they nudge people toward better decisions.

One of the big questions therefore is: ”How to make algorithms serve the interests of end users?”

Because there are *other* interests to consider, such as the economic interests of the companies owning the algorithms, this dilemma is a quite tricky problem that could possible be better understood with game-theoretic modeling.