Rhetoric of Algorithms and AI

This emerging area studies how algorithms, code, and artificial intelligence participate in persuasion, the shaping of public discourse, and the production of meaning.

Definition

The rhetoric of algorithms and AI is the study of how computational systems—code, algorithms, and artificial intelligence—function rhetorically by shaping arguments, mediating discourse, and influencing audiences.

Scope

This topic covers recent rhetorical scholarship on algorithms, software code, and artificial intelligence. It treats rhetorical code studies and the analysis of arguments embedded in and around code, the rhetorical agency of recommendation and search algorithms, the dynamics of algorithmically mediated digital writing, and critical work on bias and the politics of automated systems. As a fast-developing area, claims are framed as ongoing inquiry.

Core questions

• In what sense can code and algorithms be read rhetorically?
• How do search and recommendation systems shape public discourse?
• Can computational systems be said to have rhetorical agency?
• How do bias and values become embedded in automated systems?

Key concepts

• rhetorical code studies
• algorithmic agency
• algorithmic bias
• computational mediation of discourse
• update culture

Key theories

Rhetorical code studies

Brock argues that source code and the discourse surrounding it carry arguments and rhetorical meaning, proposing methods to analyze code as a site of persuasion and value.

Algorithmic bias and discourse

Critical scholarship shows that search and recommendation algorithms are not neutral, reflecting and amplifying social biases, which positions them as consequential actors in public discourse.

History

As software and algorithms came to mediate much public communication, rhetoricians in the 2010s extended digital rhetoric to code and computation. Work on rhetorical code studies treated programming as a site of argument, while critical scholarship examined how search and recommendation algorithms shape and distort discourse. The rise of generative artificial intelligence has further intensified attention to computational persuasion and authorship.

Debates

Do algorithms have rhetorical agency?

Scholars disagree over whether attributing rhetorical agency to non-human computational systems clarifies or obscures responsibility, and how to balance analysis of the systems with that of their human designers and users.

Key figures

• Kevin Brock
• John Gallagher
• Safiya Umoja Noble

Seminal works

• brock2019
• noble2018

Frequently asked questions

Why study algorithms as rhetoric?

Because algorithms increasingly select what people see, rank information, and mediate persuasion, they shape public discourse in ways traditionally studied by rhetoric. Analyzing them rhetorically helps reveal the arguments and values built into automated systems.