This article reorients research on agentic engagements with algorithms from the perspective of autonomy. We separate two horizons of algorithmic relations – the instrumental and the intimate – and analyse how they shape different dimensions of autonomous agency. Against the instrumental horizon, algorithmic systems are technical procedures ordering social life at a distance and using rules that can only partly be known. Autonomy is activated as reflective and informed choice and the ability to enact one’s goals and values amid technological constraints. Meanwhile, the intimate horizon highlights affective aspects of autonomy in relation to algorithmic systems as they creep ever closer to our minds and bodies. Here, quests for autonomy arise from disturbance and comfort in a position of vulnerability. We argue that the dimensions of autonomy guide us towards issues of specific ethical and political importance, given that autonomy is never merely a theoretical concern, but also a public value.

本文从自治的角度重新定位了对算法的代理参与的研究。我们将算法关系的两个视野分开——工具性的和亲密的——并分析它们如何塑造自主机构的不同维度。与工具性视界相反，算法系统是一种技术程序，它在远处对社会生活进行排序，并使用只能部分了解的规则。自主被激活为反思和知情的选择，以及在技术限制下制定个人目标和价值观的能力。同时，亲密的视野突出了与算法系统相关的自治的情感方面，因为它们越来越接近我们的思想和身体。在这里，对自主性的追求源于处于脆弱位置的干扰和舒适。