From Search Engine to GenAI: Investigating Algorithmic Mediation in Political Information, Imagination and Humanity

We are living in an era defined by a profound paradox: information is more accessible than it has ever been in human history, yet our access to it is increasingly constricted by the very tools we use to find it. While we have entrusted algorithms to gather and organize the vastness of the digital world, this convenience comes at a significant cost. By delegating the task of discovery, we have effectively surrendered the power of selection to a handful of developers and the black-boxed logic of their code. This dissertation explores the multifaceted impact of this algorithmic mediation, examining how technology reshapes the way we acquire political information, how it constructs our collective imagination of politicians, and how it ultimately influences the evolution of our own intellectual capabilities.