The Tyranny of the Algorithm: When Every Café—and Classroom—Looks the Same

Step into nearly any city in the world and chances are you’ll find a “hipster coffee shop” with familiar elements: white walls, subway tiles, massive wood tables, plenty of plants, and a cappuccino with elaborate latte art. This isn’t a global chain at work, but the subtle hand of algorithms and online platforms shaping what success looks like and nudging independents, often unconsciously, toward conformity.

Kyle Chayka’s Guardian piece, The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same, is a masterclass in revealing how digital trends don’t just echo online—they fundamentally reshape our real-world environments. This narrative, so rich in its real-world examples and candid owner testimonies, provides a powerful cautionary tale as we reflect on education’s current trajectory.

The Digital Blueprint: How Algorithms Rewrite Coffee Culture

• Searches as Templates: Chayka describes a personal routine—searching “hipster coffee shop” on Yelp—and finding comfort in knowing exactly what to expect: bright interiors, light-roast espresso, milk variety, avocado toast. Social platforms did not create the look, but their ranking and exposure mechanisms made it the standard blueprint, adopted far and wide.
• The Illusion of Authenticity: What's striking is that these cafés, supposedly authentic and local, end up authentically connected only to the global digital geography—not their communities. They become authentic to the algorithm, not the place.
• Algorithmic Blackmail: Owners like Anca Ungureanu of Beans & Dots in Bucharest recount the struggle—they harness Instagram and Google Maps to build a following, but then find their reach throttled unless they pay for boosted visibility. It feels like “algorithmic blackmail”: the very digital tools that helped them grow begin to control their destiny, extracting ever more for less agency.
• Homing Signals for a Tribe: Café design choices, consciously or not, become a way to filter people—physical spaces shaped by digital logic, sorting customers who belong and discouraging those who don’t, ultimately diluting the messy, serendipitous community spirit those places used to stand for

Education’s AirSpace: When Schools Drift Into Sameness

Like the cafés, education now faces similar algorithmic pressures:

• Teachers as Baristas: Standardised curricula promise efficiency but diminish teacher autonomy and local flavour, leaving educators feeling like servers of a predetermined menu.
• One-Size-Fits-All Pedagogy: Teaching is reduced to procedural delivery, losing the improvisational energy that flows from real classroom relationships and lived community dynamics.
• Assessment Driven by Metrics: Just as café popularity is dictated by online ratings, educational success is increasingly measured by what’s easy to quantify—attendance, test scores—rather than deeper learning or wellbeing.

Coffee Shop	Education	Algorithmic Outcome
Optimised menus	Scripted curriculum	Loss of local context, teacher voice
Standard décor	Uniform pedagogy	Teaching as delivery, not craft
Instagrammable	High-stakes assessment	Measurable over meaningful

Teacher Wellbeing, Retention & Authenticity

Chayka's article shines brightest when letting real café owners speak:

When algorithms dominate, stress rises. Teachers in schools with rigidly standardised environments often report feeling stripped of professional fulfilment and personal agency, driving higher turnover. Schools, like coffee shops, risk becoming forgettable rather than beloved

What Does It Take to Flourish? Outliers and the RM Compare Way

The article doesn’t just dwell on homogeneity. It also spotlights those who actively resist: cafés that prioritize local identity, a sense of community, and authenticity over trend-chasing, such as Beans & Dots in Bucharest and Hallesches Haus in Berlin, which deliberately cultivate unique cultures and loyal, local followings instead of pursuing pure Instagram fame.

This is where RM Compare’s approach mirrors the most cherished cafés:

• Empowering Judgement Over Templates: RM Compare forefronts human assessment, much like a café owner listening to local customers rather than chasing five-star reviews. Real, comparative judgement values the nuances, stories, and context behind each piece of student work.
• Celebrating Diversity: Rather than surface only what’s algorithmically easiest, RM Compare recognises and rewards creativity, individuality, and local priorities within assessment. This breaks the algorithmic loop, helping both teachers and students feel seen.
• Flexible, Contextual Practice: Just as some cafés create space for poetry readings or unique menus, RM Compare enables assessment tailored to community needs and culture—supporting better attendance, motivation, and mental health.

The Promise: Reclaiming Originality in a Homogenised World

Algorithms can connect and inform us, but—unchecked—they reduce our most human spaces to templates and checklists. Chayka’s narrative is a powerful reminder that “homogeneity in a diverse world is uncanny,” and that what’s lost isn’t just variety, but also freedom, excitement, and meaning.

Education has the same choice before it. By restoring professional and local agency, embracing the messy brilliance of real human judgement, and celebrating the power of context, schools can become as distinctive—and as beloved—as the best coffee shops, not merely another stop along the algorithmic high street.

Let’s make our classrooms places where everyone can find something to love—and where difference is not flattened, but flourished.