Algorithmic Consumerism: Redefining Consumption and Choice in the Digital Era

Abstract

The human intellect astonishes its own being. As Sharon Begley once said, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known”, so is the realm of Artificial Intelligence. With the aim of exploring one of the many facets of AI, this essay deals with the concept of Algorithms. In India, nearly 1.4 billion consumers relish algorithmically induced consumerism (Majumdar, 2026). and the gargantuan benefits of the AI algorithms make this number justifiable. But there is more than the eyes meet! The pocket-friendly efficiency, those “in the blink of an eye” available answers and other benefits of algorithms have the potential to blind the consumers towards the price discrimination, market manipulation and other hazardous consequences of algorithmic consumption. This chaos of boons and banes is further intensified due to the lack of a regulatory framework in the Indian territory. To unmask the veiled working of algorithms, how it affects the consumers, and to touch the tip of the Indian legal blind spot in this regard, this essay will provide the harmful as well as beneficial consequences of algorithmic consumerism, followed by the possible reforms that can revolutionize the existing technological renaissance we are living in. These reforms, anchored in principles of transparency, accountability, and digital literacy, aspire to build an inclusive and consumer-centric algorithmic ecosystem that empowers every stakeholder in the digital marketplace. This will further decentralize economic and knowledge power and allow every citizen, from urban youth to rural elders, to engage in a digital economy based on informed consent, fairness and the use of technology to uplift humanity to a new, equitable digital dawn.