School of Communication and Culture

Resent years technological developments, especially machine learning algorithms, big data, profiling and microtargeting seams to challenge social systems’ mutual operational closure. This paper tries to describe and analyze this challenge by observing it through systems theory and media theories. Theoretically the question is if our theories are sensible enough to describe and analyze the new situation, i.e. if social systems still can be defined as operationally closed in regard to other social systems? Analytically the question is if logics, values and basic communication contributions from one system can enter the communication of another system? The concrete case is the education system in the Anglo-American world, and the paper tries to observe if logics, values and elementary communication contributions from other systems can enter the communication of the education system on the level of interaction systems, organization systems and function systems. The paper concludes that systems theory in a synthesis with media theories can describe and analyze the situation, and that the materiality of digital media might result in an algorithmic induced impact on the communication in the education system enforced by other systems in its environment, why the autonomy of the education system is threatened.