Consumer Manipulation With Artificial Intelligence: Dark Patterns and Hidden Techniques
Chapter from the book:
Özkaynar,
K.
&
Abbasoğlu,
Ş.
(eds.)
2025.
Consumer, Marketing, AI: Dark Sides and Ethics.
Synopsis
Technological advancements and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted digital transformation offer significant opportunities to consumers, while at the same time paving the way for the development of manipulative design strategies. Among these strategies, 'Dark Patterns' are deceptive UI/UX (User Interface / User Experience) design techniques that direct users to perform certain actions without their awareness. Artificial intelligence makes these techniques more complex, personalized and effective, thus guiding users' decision-making processes.
Artificial intelligence-supported Dark Patterns have negative effects on individual and social levels. These techniques undermine consumer autonomy, leading to financial losses, privacy violations, and reduced trust in digital platforms. In terms of social justice, low-income users may be exposed to more hidden costs and dynamic pricing. Therefore, it is crucial to adopt ethical design principles, increase user awareness and strengthen legal regulations. Raising consumer awareness, promoting transparent digital marketing practices and tightening algorithmic controls by regulatory bodies will be critical steps in the fight against Dark Patterns.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Kürşad Özkaynar, Şevin Abbasoğlu; Şevin Abbasoğlu, Zeynep Erdoğan, Esen Gürbüz, Engin Yavuz, Murat Başal, Bahadır Avşar, Ali Şen, Dicle Yurdakul, Serim Paker, Canan Yılmaz Uz, Seda Arslan, Aylin Atasoy, Haydar Özaydın, Kadir Deligöz, Nesibe Kantar, Feyza Nur Özkan, Ahmet Songur, Sibel Aydoğan