New article: Szostak, M. (2026). Algorithmic Kitsch: AI‑Generated Writing as Aesthetic Simulation in Managerial Practice

Szostak, M. (2026). Algorithmic Kitsch: AI‑Generated Writing as Aesthetic Simulation in Managerial Practice. Discourses on Culture, 25, 17–35. https://doi.org/10.2478/doc-2026-0002

ABSTRACT:
The proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in managerial practice has introduced a new paradigm of organisational writing that is fluent, coherent, and rhetorically effective, yet increasingly detached from human intentionality and lived experience. This article conceptualises this phenomenon as algorithmic kitsch, defined as AI-generated discourse that simulates meaning through aesthetic coherence and persuasive form while lacking epistemic depth and authentic subjectivity. Drawing on theories of kitsch from aesthetic philosophy and their extension into management studies, the paper situates AI-generated texts within a broader trajectory of organisational communication characterised by standardisation, emotional templating, and symbolic overproduction. It argues that generative AI does not merely assist managerial writing but intensifies pre-existing tendencies toward aesthetic simplification and rhetorical cliché, thereby transforming argumentation into a form of patterned plausibility. The article outlines the mechanisms of algorithmic kitsch (i.e., aesthetic smoothing, semantic flattening, and affective pre-structuring) and discusses their implications for epistemic integrity, ethical responsibility, and the erosion of authentic managerial voice. From a humanistic management perspective, the paper calls for greater consciousness in the use of AI-generated texts and renewed attention to aesthetic literacy and critical reflexivity in AI-mediated managerial communication practices.