Algorithms are an increasingly important aspect of everyday life. They match us with potential partners through Internet dating sites; provide medical diagnoses; buy and sell stocks and shares through “automated trading”; and generate the “filter bubbles” that feed us with information which often confirm our opinions and political views.
Yet, despite the ubiquity of algorithms, people rarely perceive their presence or comprehend their function.
This practice-based PhD uses theatre practice and research to explore this new form of power “through the algorithm”, in contemporary society. Specifically, my research question can be stated as follows: How can my playwriting and dramaturgy expose and resist the power of algorithms?