Autonomy, Empathy, and Moral Inquiry amid Algorithmic AI

Algorithmic AI and hypernudging technologies are reshaping human experience by subtly influencing autonomy, empathy, and the way we inquire, often operating below conscious awareness and steering decisions through personalized, data-driven feedback. David L. Hildebrand explores how these systems risk diminishing independent thought, weakening empathic connection, and constraining creativity, raising urgent ethical questions about how we preserve human agency and moral growth in an increasingly AI-mediated world. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/03/autonomy-empathy-and-moral-inquiry-amid-algorithmic-ai/ About the Author: David L. Hildebrand is professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Denver. He is a past president of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy and the Southwest Philosophical Society. He has published extensively on John Dewey, Richard Rorty, aesthetics, and the philosophy of technology. For nearly a decade, Hildebrand has published on information technologies, considering their bearing on inquiry, meaning, ethics, education, art and aesthetic experience, democracy, and truth. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/