We propose a control-theoretic interpretation of recommender systems and use this perspective to analyze how fairness interventions shape long-term system behavior. Fairness concerns arise for both users and creators, ranging from opinion polarization and representation bias on the user side to popularity bias on the creator side. A central insight of our analysis is that fairness should not be viewed as a simple trade-off against utility. When optimized over time, it can in fact be beneficial for overall system performance. Realizing these gains, however, requires a clear understanding of the underlying dynamics.
@article{arxiv.2605.01503,
title = {Recommender Systems as Control Systems},
author = {Giulia De Pasquale and Sarah Dean and Paolo Frasca},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.01503},
year = {2026}
}