Who Controls the Buttons? Algomorphic Society, Technocracy, and Italian Politics

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence and predictive algorithms into political processes marks a profound transformation of governance and democracy. In Italy, the adoption of digital tools by political parties and institutions – such as the Rousseau platform of the Movimento 5 Stelle and La Bestia of Lega – demonstrates how politics is increasingly shaped by algorithmic optimization logics, reducing the space for traditional democratic deliberation. This study examines how AI’s role in politics is not always driven by genuine needs but often by external pressures and the imperative to conform to technological modernization models and it explores the risk of a digital technocracy, in which decision-making power progressively shifts from representative institutions to predictive systems. The reflection concludes with the metaphor of the ‘control room’ questioning who truly controls decision-making today: elected representatives or the invisible architectures of algorithms? The article critically examines the future of democracy in an era where society is becoming increasingly algomorphic, shaped by automated systems and post-reality dynamics.