There is sometimes a notion that AL is a bothersome, intrusive process, but it
does not have to be this way [54, 38]. If the items presented to the user are interesting, it could be both a process of discovery and of exploration. Some Recommender
Systems provide a “surprise me!” button to motivate the user into this explorative
process, and indeed there are users who browse suggestions just to see what there
is without any intention of buying. Exploration is crucial for users to become more
self-aware of their own preferences (changing or not) and at the same time inform
the system of what they are. Keep in mind that in a sense users can also be defined
by the items they consume, not only by the ratings of their items, so by prompting
users to rate different items it may be possible to further distinguish their preferences from one another and enable the system to provide better personalization and
to better suit their needs.