A system in which algorithms structure and constrain how people act and take part in decisions, distinct from markets (which use prices) and bureaucracies (which use rules).
In more detail
The term is used in sociology by A. Aneesh and was applied to public decision-making by John Danaher, who argues that opaque algorithmic governance threatens the legitimacy of public decisions because it limits human participation and comprehension. Danaher discusses resistance and accommodation as responses and doubts either fully works.