Recommender systems may enhance the discovery of novelties

Giordano De Marzo; Pietro Gravino; Vittorio Loreto

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arXiv · 2312.08824

Recommender systems may enhance the discovery of novelties

Giordano De Marzo·Pietro Gravino·Vittorio Loreto

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Abstract

Recommender systems are vital for shaping user online experiences. While some believe they may limit new content exploration and promote opinion polarization, a systematic analysis is still lacking. We present a model that explores the influence of recommender systems on novel content discovery. Surprisingly, analytical and numerical findings reveal these techniques can enhance novelty discovery rates. Also, distinct algorithms with similar discovery rates yield varying opinion polarization outcomes. Our approach offers a framework to enhance recommendation techniques beyond accuracy metrics.

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Giordano De Marzo, Pietro Gravino, Vittorio Loreto. 2023-12-14. Recommender systems may enhance the discovery of novelties. https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.08824

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