Anastasia A. LISENKOVA Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University
29 Polytechnicheskaya, Saint Petersburg, 195251, Russian Federation
Humanities Institute, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Director
Doctor of Sciences (Cultural Studies)
Associate Professor
e-mail: Oskar46@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-8825-3760
Lisenkova, A. (2026) Cultural Studies in the Face of the “black box”: Algorithmic Standardization and the Uniqueness of Crises in the Digital EnvironmentAbstract: Culture and art are increasingly mediated by digital platforms and algorithms (new media, recommender systems, generative neural networks). Algorithms function as "black boxes" (opaque to users and researchers), yet they actively consider aesthetic preferences, norms, and creative traditions. The primary objective of this study is to demonstrate that the algorithmic standardization (homogenization) of resources ensures the uniqueness of crises in art and poses new theoretical, methodological, and applied challenges for cultural studies to understand and overcome these consequences.
Using the metaphor of the "black box" (the opacity of algorithms' internal processes to external observers), the problem of the hidden normative pressure of technology on creativity arises. Drawing on the methodology of post-non-classical science and the principles of interdisciplinarity, this article analyzes how recommender systems, generative neural networks, and potential moderation mechanisms are constructing a new aesthetic normativity, an "algorithmic aesthetics," oriented toward averaged, profitable, and commercially successful revenues. This phenomenon is examined as an implicit censor, filtering out unconventional and unique expressions of creativity, as well as changes in authorship in a context where creativity is increasingly reduced to editing neural network texts.
Particular attention is paid to the applied and predictive potential of cultural studies, as cultural studies, with its tools for analyzing values, meanings, and norms, is capable of performing the function of critical reflection and "translation" between algorithmic linguistic apparatus and linguistic meaning. The article substantiates the need for cultural studies to participate in the development of these AI standards, in the assessment of cultural policies aimed at developing digital technologies in the cultural sphere, and in the application of new innovative practices aimed at managing critical thinking in the digital reality. It concludes that preserving uniqueness as a fundamental cultural value requires cultural studies to adopt an active methodological and ideological approach.
Key words: Cultural studies, digital environment, algorithmic standardization, artificial intelligence, "black box," uniqueness of crisis, algorithmic aesthetics.
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For Citation: Lisenkova, A. (2026) Cultural Studies in the Face of the “black box”: Algorithmic Standardization and the Uniqueness of Crises in the Digital Environment. International Journal of Cultural Research, 1 (62). 66–77. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2026_1_66
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2026_1_66
