COMM Colloquium – “Generative AI and the Future of Computational Propaganda” – Dr. Samuel Woolley, Assistant Professor R.P. Doherty Sr. Centennial Professorship in Communication, School of Journalism and Media, University of Texas at Austin and Head of the Propaganda Research Lab.
COMM Colloquium
February 29, 2024
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location
Institute for the Humanities
Calendar
Download iCal FileWe now know that automation and algorithmic manipulation have played a pivotal role in the global spread of internet-based propaganda over the last decade. How have social media bots and other tools, techniques, and strategies of online influence operations evolved recently? Have generative AI and other emerging technologies changed how computational propaganda is created and spread? Who, primarily, is behind such innovation and machination? This talk explores how digital persuasion, hate, and disinformation campaigns are undertaken in today's world--and how they are likely to be done in the future.
Bio:Samuel Woolley studies how emerging media technologies are used for both democracy and control. He has over a decade of experience studying computational propaganda and the use of chatbots, algorithms, and AI for the purposes of online manipulation. Dr. Woolley is an assistant professor and fellow of the R.P. Doherty Sr. Centennial Professorship in Communication in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also leads the Propaganda Research Lab at the Center for Media Engagement. He is the author of four books about digital propaganda and technology and regularly writes on the subject in academic journals and for popular venues including The New York Times, MIT Technology Review, Slate, Wired, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, and The Atlantic. He has held fellowships at Google Jigsaw, the ADL, GLOBSEC, and the German Marshall Fund, and led research teams at the University of Washington, the University of Oxford, and the Institute for the Future. His work has been presented before the US Congress, UK Parliament, NATO, and the United Nations. His PhD is from the University of Washington.
Date posted
Aug 23, 2023
Date updated
Aug 29, 2023