Relation-Theoretical Reflection on Algorithmically Controlled Service Interaction: A Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

Digital service systems not only change processes but also the symbolic foundations of customer relationships. This work analyses, based on theory, how central relationship categories such as trust, closeness and commitment shift under conditions of algorithmic mediation. At the centre is the thesis that algorithmically mediated interactions do not generate classic relationships, but functional simulations of relational patterns. The analysis is carried out without empirical data collection and is based on system and interaction theory models, particularly those of Luhmann, Coleman, Maslow and Mead. Using the case study of the "cash machine" and supplementary observations in the retail and healthcare sectors, it is shown how technological systems replace social depth with functional reliability. Trust becomes a system expectation, proximity an interface gesture, and relationship a technical configuration. The study concludes with a theoretical condensation and discusses the need for new conceptual approaches beyond classical relationship theories. The work sees itself as a contribution to the conceptual clarification of algorithmically mediated social relationships and argues in favour of a differentiated view of digital service interaction beyond functionalist efficiency rhetoric and anthropomorphic illusions. The conceptual scope and lack of empirical data highlight the theoretical nature of this study and indicate directions for future empirical research