Recommender Systems at the Cost of the Planet

Speaker:  Alan Said – Gothenburg, Sweden
Topic(s):  Information Systems, Search, Information Retrieval, Database Systems, Data Mining, Data Science

Abstract

Recommender systems shape what billions of people see, buy, and believe — but at what cost? As these systems grow in scale and influence, so too does their environmental and societal footprint. This talk takes a critical look at the sustainability of current recommendation technologies, highlighting the often-overlooked impact they have on the planet. Beyond emissions, we explore how issues of fairness, accountability, and transparency are essential to creating systems that serve everyone — not just the most profitable outcomes. If recommender systems are to truly benefit society, we must urgently rethink how we build, evaluate, and deploy them. The future of recommendation is not just a technical challenge — it’s a moral one

About this Lecture

Number of Slides:  80
Duration:  45 - 80 minutes
Languages Available:  English
Last Updated: 

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