The parent comment raises a valid distinction.
> In contrast, a heuristic is an approach to solving problems without well-defined correct or optimal results.[2] For example, although social media recommender systems are commonly called "algorithms", they actually rely on heuristics as there is no truly "correct" recommendation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm
What are the consequences of conflating the two terms? I’m not sure yet.
> The parent comment raises a valid distinction.
Not really, as described in the quote you shared, it is common to refer to "recommendation systems" as "algorithms", even if its not actually such a thing.
There are plenty of examples of well-known aliases to concepts that obfuscate actual meaning in the English language, but they aren't wrong, as language is usage.
It’s actually not such a thing. So is the distinction valid or not?
It depends how pedantic you’re feeling.