Algorithmic Monoculture

The phenomenon where repeated use of the same model or algorithm in consequential decision-making settings results in increased susceptibility to correlated failures. When multiple actors rely on the same foundation model for employment decisions, lending, content moderation, or other high-stakes domains, an unexpected shock or edge case can cascade across all implementations simultaneously.

The risk is analogous to agricultural monocultures: efficiency gains from standardization create systemic fragility. Diversity in approaches provides resilience; homogeneity amplifies the blast radius of any single failure mode.

This is an ecosystem-level risk that transcends any individual system or organization.

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