{"id":1967,"date":"2024-04-15T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T09:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2024-04-13T10:23:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T09:23:03","slug":"unravelling-the-complexity-of-manipulation-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/unravelling-the-complexity-of-manipulation-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"Unravelling the Complexity of Manipulation Theories"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the previous four posts of this series on <\/span>‘<\/span>Unpacking Manipulation in the Digital Age<\/span>‘<\/span>(Post 1<\/a>; Post 2<\/a>; Post 3<\/a>; Post 4<\/a><\/span>), I <\/span>argued that more attention to different types of social influence is needed and that digital influence often seems to fall into the grey area between persuasion and coercion. <\/span><\/p>\n

This raises the question of whether and why they fit the category of manipulation. In this post, I argue that<\/span>, i<\/span>n the pursuit of understanding manipulation in the age of new technologies, two prevalent <\/span>manipulation <\/span>theories are available, each with its own set of problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intention-Focused Theories<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Philosophical and legal scholars often emphasi<\/span>s<\/span>e intention in theories of manipulation<\/span> (Sher 2011; Spencer 2020; Noggle 1996)<\/span><\/a>. Intentions, they argue, are crucial for distinguishing between purposeful <\/span>i<\/span>nfluence and accidental outcomes. Robert Noggle’s <\/span>manipulation <\/span>theory stands out, suggesting that manipulators intend to make their victims commit a mistake <\/span>(Noggle 2020)<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, this approach falls short in the<\/span> realm of digital influence<\/span>, where <\/span>the <\/span>intent <\/span>behind a given influence <\/span>is often elusive<\/span>. One reason is that we are dealing with AI-mediated <\/span>i<\/span>nfluence (<\/span>see blog post <\/a><\/span>3<\/span> )<\/span>. <\/span>When a particular influence \u2013 like a blog post or an image posted on Facebook \u2013 is mediated <\/span>by AI<\/span>, intentions are either missing or<\/span> hard to identify<\/span>. <\/span>And yet m<\/span>isleading or otherwise problematic <\/span>online influences may strike us as manipulative even if they lack the typically nefarious <\/span>intentions<\/span> required by intention-focused theories. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another reason is that<\/span> some <\/span>of the <\/span>influences that occupy the grey area between persuasion and coercion may be completely bereft of intention. <\/span>A\/B tests are a good example. <\/span>A\/B tests are a user experience research method, which <\/span>usually involves two variants of a design (A and B) that are randomly distributed to users. In that way the designer can test, for example, whether variant A <\/span>of a website design <\/span>works better <\/span>in terms of e.g. increasing sales on the website.<\/span> Brignull<\/span><\/a> (2023)<\/span><\/a> describes how <\/span>A\/B-tests can be completely automated to evaluate <\/span>which<\/span>, for example, <\/span>website design works most effectively in generating traffic and to implement the <\/span>‘<\/span>winning<\/span>‘<\/span> design automatically. <\/span>An unsuspecting designer may simply intend to create a website design vaguely defined as <\/span>‘<\/span>good<\/span>‘<\/span> and end up, by way of the automated process, implementing a <\/span>design that <\/span>uses<\/span> exploitative but effective dark patterns. This will strike many as a manipulative form of influence, <\/span>and yet, the process<\/span>, however, lacks the nefarious intentions that intention-based theories require. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to this general problem for intention-based theories, there are significant obstacles for specific interpretations of intention-based manipulation theories. Perhaps the most influential one is the covertness view <\/span>of manipulation <\/span>formulated by Daniel Susser, Beate Roessler, and Helen Nissenbaum <\/span>(Susser et al. 2019a, 2019b)<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>The problem is that it <\/span>develop<\/span>s an overly stringent necessary requirement on manipulation \u2013 that it be covert \u2013 which, as others have pointed out, is <\/span>often not present in clear cases of manipulation <\/span>(Bongard-Blanchy et al. 2021; Noggle 2022; Klenk 2022)<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Disjunctive Characteristics Theories<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The d<\/span>igital ethics literature presents theories that consider manipulation as a disjunction of <\/span>different <\/span>characteristics. This <\/span>‘<\/span>laundry<\/span> list<\/span>‘<\/span> approach lists various factors associated with manipulation, such as undermining autonomy or causing harm<\/span>, and suggests that manipulation is a type of influence that satisfies some or all of these criteria<\/span> (Botes 2023; Ienca 2023)<\/span><\/a>. The challenge arises when trying to find common ground among these diverse features. <\/span>In particular, d<\/span>isjunctive views struggle to provide a clear understanding of manipulation and pose practical challenges in formulating effective design or policy recommendations<\/span>, raising both practical and theoretical challenges<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Practical <\/span>Challenge for Disjunctive Views<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Disjunctive views make it challenging to pinpoint specific measures against manipulation. <\/span>For instance, an effort to avoid manipulation by being transparent (stipulating that ‘covert influence’ is one of the disjuncts of a manipulation criterion)<\/span> may conflict with the goal of preventing harm, creating a practical dilemma. This complexity hinders the application of concrete solutions in design and policy recommendations<\/span> (Klenk 2023)<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

More generally, an account of manipulation should eventually <\/span>allow us to derive concrete design recommendations to implement regulatory measures against manipulation in practice. A long list of features merely indicative of manipulation may complicate the task of deriving <\/span>consistent<\/span> design requirements <\/span>too much. <\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, unless we are sufficiently convinced \u2013 which we should not be at the moment \u2013 that there is no <\/span>more straightforward<\/span>, <\/span>unified <\/span>criterion of <\/span>manipulation<\/span>, we should avoid disjunctive views and keep looking for a unified criterion. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Theoretical <\/span>Challenge for Disjunctive Views<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Disjunctive views also leave a theoretical lacuna. Unless we can find a commonality or unifying factor behind the different disjuncts allegedly related to manipulation, we fail to truly understand the phenomenon. <\/span><\/p>\n

One aspect of this theoretical lacuna is that we are missing an answer to the question of what, if anything, <\/span>seemingly widely different forms of manipulation have in common. After all, one instance of <\/span>‘<\/span>manipulation<\/span>‘<\/span> may fit a subset of the disjuncts that <\/span>another instance of manipulation does not share<\/span>. What then<\/span> warrants us classifying b<\/span>oth these influences as part of the same phenomenon<\/span> (Klenk 2024)<\/span><\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Another aspect of the theoretical lacuna is moral. As <\/span>Coons and Weber<\/span><\/a> (2014)<\/span><\/a> point out, it seems that there is a fairly uniform moral response to manipulation. It <\/span>appear<\/span>s to be a <\/span>problematic form of influence, and various scholars are trying to pinpoint <\/span>precise<\/span>ly why manipulation is supposed to be a moral problem <\/span>(Klenk and Hancock 2019)<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>With a disjunctive view, however, it is no longer clear that we can assume that all forms of manipulation should receive the <\/span>same<\/span> moral response on a basic level since, as discussed, different forms of manipulation may have nothing in common. <\/span>When <\/span>‘<\/span>manipulation<\/span>‘<\/span> is used as a meaningful category in policy and regulation, warranting bans and punishment, then this becomes a real practical and legal issue, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion and <\/span>Outlook<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The issues for two prominent approaches to understanding manipulation outlined in this post result in a call for a better theory. <\/span><\/p>\n

In this <\/span>series’s<\/span> sixth and final post<\/a><\/span>, <\/span>I<\/span>‘ll <\/span>review<\/span> a <\/span>potential avenue for a more accurate and actionable <\/span>manipulation theory: the indifference account of manipulation<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>Bongard-Blanchy, K., Rossi, A., Rivas, S., Doublet, S., Koenig, V., &\u00a0Lenzini, G. (2021). <\/span>” <\/span>I am Definitely Manipulated, Even When I am Aware of it. It<\/span>‘<\/span>s Ridiculous!<\/span>“<\/span> – Dark Patterns from the End-User Perspective. In W. Ju, L. <\/span>Oehlberg<\/span>, S. Follmer, S. Fox, & S. Kuznetsov (Eds.),<\/span> DIS ’21: Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021, Virtual Event USA, 28 06 2021 02 07 2021<\/span> (pp. 763\u2013776, ACM Conferences). New <\/span>York,NY,United<\/span> States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi:10.1145\/3461778.3462086.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Botes, M. (2023). Autonomy and the social dilemma of online manipulative <\/span>behavior<\/span>.<\/span> AI and Ethics, 3<\/span>, 315\u2013323. doi:10.1007\/s43681-022-00157-5.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Brignull<\/span>, H. (2023).<\/span> Deceptive Patterns: Exposing the tricks tech companies use to control you<\/span>. Harry <\/span>Brignull<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Coons, C., &\u00a0Weber, M. (2014). Manipulation: Investigating the core concept and its moral status. In C. Coons & M. Weber (Eds.),<\/span> Manipulation<\/span>: <\/span>Theory and practice<\/span> (pp. 1\u201316). Oxford: Oxford University Press.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Ienca, M. (2023). On Artificial Intelligence and Manipulation.<\/span> Topoi, 42<\/span>, 833\u2013842. doi:10.1007\/s11245-023-09940-3.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Klenk, M. (2022). <\/span>(Online) Manipulation: Sometimes Hidden, Always Careless.<\/span> Review of Social Economy, 80<\/span>, 85\u2013105. doi:10.1080\/00346764.2021.1894350.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Klenk, M. (2023). Algorithmic Transparency and Manipulation.<\/span> Philosophy & Technology, 36<\/span>, 1\u201320. doi:10.1007\/s13347-023-00678-9.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Klenk, M. (2024). Ethics of generative AI and manipulation: a design-oriented research agenda.<\/span> Ethics and Information Technology, 26<\/span>, 1\u201315. doi:10.1007\/s10676-024-09745-x.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Klenk, M., &\u00a0Hancock, J. (2019). Autonomy and online manipulation.<\/span> Internet Policy Review<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Noggle, R. (1996). Manipulative Actions: A Conceptual and Moral Analysis.<\/span> American Philosophical Quarterly, 33<\/span>(1), 43\u201355.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Noggle, R. (2020). Pressure, Trickery, and a unified account of manipulation.<\/span> American Philosophical Quarterly, 57<\/span>, 241\u2013252. doi:10.2307\/48574436.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Noggle, R. (2022). The Ethics of Manipulation. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.),<\/span> Stanford <\/span>Encyclopedia<\/span>of Philosophy<\/span>. Summer 2022 .<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Sher, S. (2011). A Framework for Assessing Immorally Manipulative Marketing Tactics.<\/span>Journal of Business Ethics, 102<\/span>, 97\u2013118. doi:10.1007\/s10551-011-0802-4.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Spencer, S. B. (2020). The Problem of Online Manipulation.<\/span> University of Illinois Law Review, 2020<\/span>, 959\u20131006. doi:10.2139\/ssrn.3341653.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Susser, D., Roessler, B., &\u00a0Nissenbaum, H. (2019a). <\/span>Online Manipulation: Hidden Influences in A Digital World.<\/span> Georgetown Law Technology Review, 4<\/span>(1), 1\u201345.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Susser, D., Roessler, B., &\u00a0Nissenbaum, H. (2019b). Technology, autonomy, and manipulation.<\/span> Internet Policy Review, 8<\/span>, 1\u201322. doi:10.14763\/2019.2.1410.<\/span><\/p>\n

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More specifically, their algorithms are manipulating you. Or so we now commonly hear from pundits, activists, and academics. 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