By introducing autoplay for the next episode of a show, Netflix shifted the role of the user from active participant to passive viewer—from opting in to opting out. Later, YouTube turned on autoplay for suggested videos, a pattern that then culminated in TikTok, where videos need not be turned on, and can’t be turned off short of exiting the app. Algorithms serve content that’s not necessarily what a user seeks out, but when they don’t object, it builds a persona based on metadata that reinforces what the algorithm assumes.

This blurs the line between engagement and non-engagement, making action implicit in non-action. This behavior has bled into other areas of culture and commerce, from Gmail’s Smart Compose, to automatic renewals for subscriptions or household purchases, to forms that autofill. We expect interfaces to not only predict who we are and what we like, but also remember when we ask technology to course correct.