The Journey through Algorithmic Alienation to The Systemised Self - Research Proposal and Methodology.

Abstract

The digital age: particularly the internet, social media and now AI (transformer-based large language models), has produced conditions of selfhood and agency that contemporary critical theory is still in the process towards a diagnosis of. This research proposal introduces and formally operationalises two interconnected theoretical constructs (i) Algorithmic Alienation (Kanbay, Akçam & Arkan, 2026), and (ii) the Systemised Self (Galu & Kairos, 2026b): positioning them as sequential states in a trajectory of digitally mediated erosion of selfhood. Building from the qualitative empirical foundations established through focus-group research (Arkan, Kanbay & Akçam, 2026), this proposal presents a mathematical representation of the Algorithmic Alienation Index (AAI), a composite weighted formula incorporating four empirically grounded dimensions (i) Diminished Autonomy (DAu), (ii) Identity Ambiguity (IAm), (iii) Eroded Decision-Making (EDm), and (iv) Emotional Disconnection (EDc), modulated by an Algorithmic Resistance variable (RA). The Systemised Self is formally defined herein as the terminal condition of the AAI trajectory: the threshold state at which AA ≥ 0.95 and resistance approaches zero, producing the phenomenological inversion in which heteronomy is experienced as self-determination. This proposal presents a mixed-methods research design to empirically test and validate this framework. The research proposes to contribute a falsifiable, quantitatively grounded, and philosophically coherent model adequate to the diagnostic demands of the AI era in critical theory.

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