December 2023 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

18 months postdoc, University of Milan - ALGOFEED
by Alessandro Gandini 12 Dec '23

12 Dec '23

With apologies for crossposting At the Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan we are hiring a new postdoctoral researcher with computational social science skills to work for 18 months on the new PRIN project “Algofeed”, financed by the Italian Ministry of University, with Massimo Airoldi and Alessandro Gandini. The project studies algorithmic recommendations on YouTube and TikTok. Other research units involved in the project include the University of Pavia, led by Alessandro Caliandro, and the University Federico II of Naples, led by Gabriella Punziano. Proficiency in Italian is preferable but NOT essential. All application information can be found here: https://www.unimi.it/en/node/48289 Please circulate to anyone who you think might be interested. Thanks, Alessandro & Massimo -- Alessandro Gandini Associate Professor of Cultural Sociology University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Sciences Via Conservatorio 7, 20122 Milan, Italy

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Continuing our webinar series to explore the DSA together; this time: Trusted Flaggers + Vetted Researchers (Dec 14)
by Tom Divon 12 Dec '23

12 Dec '23

Dear community members! Intrigued by the Digital Services Act (DSA) but hesitant to delve into it alone? Let us do it together! *After two successful sessions* - Catalina Goanta, Associate Professor in Private Law and Technology at Utrecht University, Taylor Annabell, Postdoctoral researcher for the ERC-funded HUMANads project at Utrecht University, and myself, Tom Divon, PhD researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - *continue unpacking the DSA for media scholars.* Recently, regulation has garnered significant attention in media studies, yet deciphering complex legislation remains challenging. The Digital Services Act, a crucial piece of legislation, redefines platform liability within the EU. Amidst the optimistic expectations about its impact, our goal is to demystify and clarify the realities by delving into the underlying legal standards. *What did we have already?* Webinar 1, November 30 - we focused on providing a comprehensive overview of the characteristics, goals, and framework of the DSA and placing it in the context of prior European legal structures. The recording of this session will be released in the coming days! Webinar 2, December 7 - we focused on the DSA provisions *Recommender Systems* and *Terms of Service* with a specific emphasis on compliance by TikTok. We analyzed how the DSA influences TikTok's platform documentation and the contractual relationship between the platform and its European Union consumers. *This week:* *Webinar 3, December 14, 16:00 CET* - we intend to pivot towards the crucial subject of *enforcement*. Our legal experts, Catalina Goanta and Jacob van de Kerkhof, will explore two key aspects: firstly, how the DSA establishes the concept of "Trusted Flaggers" and defines their role in content moderation as a measure against illegal content on platforms; secondly, how to interpret the DSA's data access provisions for monitoring and evaluating platform compliance, as well as enabling "vetted researchers" to conduct research on systemic risks. We warmly invite researchers from all corners of the globe to join us, regardless of their familiarity with the law or the DSA, and whether or not they attended our first session. Please sign in using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMlrLtPMAIonKjeVcPCGmWKkUZdjiKwr-… Join us for a regulation rollercoaster! ❤️ -- *Tom Divon* Media & Culture R*esearcher* Dept. of Communication & Journalism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Sammy Ofer School of Communications, IDC, Herzliya Tel: +972-547-532681 [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/TomDivon>[image: Instagram] <https://www.instagram.com/divon.tom/>[image: Facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/tom.divon> *Publications*: Playful Activism: Memetic Performances of Palestinian Resistance in TikTok #Challenges <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051231157607>. Playful Publics on TikTok: The Memetic Israeli-Palestinian War of #CHALLENGE <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366530633_Playful_Publics_on_TikTo…> . #JewishTikTok: The JewToks' Fight against Antisemitism <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359548581_JewishTikTok>. Serious TikTok: Can You Learn About the Holocaust in 60 seconds? <https://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/digitalholocaustmemory/2022/03/24/can-you-lear…> PERFORMING DEATH AND TRAUMA? PARTICIPATORY MEM(E)ORY AND THE HOLOCAUST IN TIKTOK# POVCHALLENGES <https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/12995> visit my web! https://tomdivon.com/

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CfP - Special Issue - Artificial Intimacies: Exploring New Forms of Connection and Disconnection with AI Technologies
by Cristina Miguel 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

CALL FOR PAPERS for the Special Issue "Artificial Intimacies: Exploring New Forms of Connection and Disconnection with AI Technologies" in Societies journal. The rapid advance of artificial intelligence (AI) in society demands innovative research perspectives to examine how people effectively engage with AI and the potential benefits and drawbacks of its use. Despite a growing number of people engaging in intimate relationships with robots, chatbots, and virtual assistants, there is still little knowledge about human–AI intimacy practices. AI companions aim to create a safe and non-judgmental space for individuals to share their feelings and thoughts. These types of AI technologies can show care for humans by actively listening to their concerns and using empathetic language to support them. Thus, they may help to fight loneliness and contribute to a sense of connection and well-being. On the other hand, detractors claim that AI companions are detrimental to users’ ability to form real-life relationships and involve privacy risks. The amount of users’ data that AI companions need to collect to learn about individuals’ behaviour may compromise users’ privacy. Therefore, some questions arise: How is AI transforming the ways we understand and experience intimacy?; Are new forms of intimacy emerging?; How are AI technologies being adapted for cultural differences in building intimate relations?; Which cultural and social continuities and discontinuities are related to AI companions’ adoption?; Are there experiences of distrust and disconnection in relation to AI companions?; How are artificial intimacy experiences being narrated? The main objective of this Special Issue, "Artificial Intimacies: Exploring New Forms of Connection and Disconnection with AI Technologies”, is to understand the emerging phenomenon of artificial intimacy. This Special Issue aims to achieve a holistic understanding of how AI companion robots and apps operate and how they are adopted for different types of intimate relationships (e.g., friendship, romantic, sexual), as well as to map the social imaginaries and moral panics around these new intimate technologies driven by AI. For this Special Issue, we welcome empirical research articles, literature reviews, or conceptual papers that analyse and assess how artificial intimacies are understood and experienced in society. Potential topics for submissions to this Special Issue on artificial intimacy may include, but are not limited to, the following: • AI companion robots and apps (sexual, caregivers, friendship, romantic, etc.). • Social and ethical implications of the use of AI companions. • Political economy of AI companion apps. • Intimate relationships with virtual assistants. • Age, race, gender, or class and AI companions. • Artificial intimacy imaginaries and fiction. Guest Editors: Dr. Cristina Miguel and Prof. Dr. Elisenda Piera Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2024 To find out more about the submission process, please visit: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies/special_issues/2J17FJ3CJJ Best wishes, Cristina Miguel Most recent publications: Miguel, C., Lutz, C., Majetić, F., and Perez-Vega, R. (2023). Working from Paradise? Digital nomads’ self-presentation on Instagram. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231205892 Miguel, C., Clare, C., Ashworth, C.J., and Hoang, D. (2023). Content Creation on Instagram: A Case Study of Foodie Influencers. Information, Communication & Society. DOI: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2246524 Miguel, C., Lutz, C., Majetić, F., Perez-Vega, R., and Sanchez Razo, M. (2023). It’s not All Shiny and Glamorous: Loneliness and Fear of Missing Out among Digital Nomads. In Proceedings of the 56th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2023. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/65055428-4040-476c-b4ac-9d17e2b…

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Call for Papers: “Resistance and Resilience: Gender/Sexuality in Digital Culture”
by Han, Woori 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

Call for Papers: “Resistance and Resilience: Gender/Sexuality in Digital Culture” May 16, 2024 Exeter, UK Department of Communications, Drama, and Film, University of Exeter Deeply embedded in our everyday life and our body, digital media have transformed gendered and sexual cultures and practices. Gender and sexuality as the performative have also transformed digital cultures, carving out important spaces for resistance and resilience in the face of systemic dehumanization. We have been witnessing how increasing (self-)representations of feminisms and LGBTQ people in the digital media landscape challenge and provoke backlash and how digitally mediated bodies (expressive form of gender and sexuality) complicate sexual and gendered norms. For example, the #MeToo movement has since evolved into a global phenomenon, symbolising the anti-sexual harassment movement in the digital age. Critical analysis within tweets, vlogs, TikToks and memes have become essential to deconstructing the transphobic rhetoric of the mainstream media. The dialectics of gender/sexuality and digital media urge us to question changing forms, nature, and modes of resistance and resilience practices around patriarchy, heteronormativity, and cis-normativity at the intersection of racism, nationalism, colonialism, and neoliberalism. To tackle this question, and to launch a new Research Centre for Gender, Sexuality, and Digital Culture, we invite scholars from all disciplines to join us at the Resistance and Resilience conference to engage in conversations about how networked digital media complicate national and cultural belonging and rearrange gendered, sexual, and bodily norms that move beyond colonial and neoliberal resilience. The topics include but are not limited to: * Feminist and LGBTQ digital activism, solidarity, and resistance in the rising backlashes * Popular feminisms and/or neoliberal feminisms * Digital embodiment of gender and sexuality * Fandoms, celebrity and influencer culture * Representations of women and LGBTQ people in games * Queer Diasporas * Body weight, health, beauty, cisnormativity and queer bodies online * Digital sex work and heteronormativity, romance and intimacy online * Postcolonialism and critical race theory in digital spaces The conference organizers welcome abstracts from Early Career Researchers and particularly encourage academics from marginalized groups to apply. The conference committee invites proposals for individual 20-minute papers: Please email a 350 word abstract (+50word bio) in a single Word document to Dr. Woori Han (w.han(a)exeter.ac.uk<mailto:w.han@exeter.ac.uk>) by Jan 18, 2024. Key dates: Submission Deadline Jan 18, 2024 Decision Notification: Feb 26, 2024 Conference: May 16, 2024 Keynote speakers: To be Confirmed Organizing Committee Drs. Amelia Morris, Haili Li, and Woori Han Department of Communications, Drama, and Film, University of Exeter Dr. Woori Han Lecturer in Media and Communications Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences University of Exeter Office 5, White House, Thornlea, Exeter, EX4 4LA, UK Office hours: Thursday 11:30-12:30 pm and Friday 12:30-1:30 pm,

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DEADLINE EXTENSION: The In-Betweenness of Play
by David Murphy 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

Hello Friends, In response to multiple extension requests, the organizing committee has changed the submission deadline for the In-Betweenness of Play joint hybrid conference to January 3rd. This conference is free of charge for those who choose to present online and the CFP can be found below. CALL FOR A PAPERS DIGRA Brazil / British DIGRA Joint Hybrid Conference The In-Betweenness of Play As part of a broader initiative aimed at amplifying diverse voices within the interdisciplinary field of game studies, DIGRA Brazil and British DIGRA invite short panel and paper proposals to a special two-day joint hybrid conference on the 'in-betweenness' of play that will take place from April 12-13 at Staffordshire University London. In 1971, Brazilian Cultural Critic Silviano Santiago introduced the concept of 'in-betweenness' as a vital lens for understanding the intricate dynamics emerging from the clash of modern Western theories with the complexities of contemporary non-Western cultural production. It offered depth to the experiences of artists and intellectuals involved in the production of identities, economies, and aesthetic strategies caught between nativism and cosmopolitanism while challenging the untrustworthy, often exploitative, Western notions of cultural originality. It also helped shape the understanding of the ongoing influence of colonial legacies and power dynamics in cultural encounters. In addition to outlining a critical position, the concept of in-betweenness also refers to productive spaces where new collaborations can flourish—spaces where shared feelings of cultural in-betweenness give-rise to the creative reimagining of ontologies, technologies, methodologies and practices. A space in-between, in other words, is also a place of learning by way of emulation, adaptation, collaboration and critical reflection. To promote as much participation as possible, panel (750-1000 words including bibliography) and paper (250-500 words including bibliography) proposals on any aspect of game or gaming adjacent research written in English or Portuguese are welcome. Attendees can present online or in person; the deadline for submissions is Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024, and proposals can be sent to inbetweenessofplay(a)googlegroups.com. Online participation is free and both organizations are also seeking postgraduate student support for this and future events, so if you are an MA or PhD student interested in volunteering for the event planning committee please send a short email expressing your interest to inbetweenessofplay(a)googlegroups.com. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, research on the spaces in-between: - Sustainability and Development - Accessibility and Design - Analog and Digital Games - Amateurs and Professionals - Studios, Workers, and Publishers - Players, Fans, and Spectators - Bodies and Affects - Labour and Leisure - Storytelling and Design - Platforms and Cultures - Learning and Teaching - Institutions and Esports - Research and Practice - Representation and Identity - Post-colonialism and Decolonization - Posthumanism and Agency - Automation and Art CHAMADA DE TRABALHOS Conferência Híbrida Conjunta DIGRA Brasil/British DIGRA Os Entre-Lugares do Jogo Como parte de uma iniciativa mais ampla destinada a ampliar vozes diversas no campo interdisciplinar dos game studies, os chapters brasileiro e britânico da Digital Games Research Association - DIGRA Brasil e British DIGRA, respectivamente - convidam propostas curtas de painéis e artigos para uma conferência híbrida especial de dois dias sobre a 'intermediariedade' do jogo, que acontecerá de 12 a 13 de abril de 2024 na Universidade de Staffordshire, em Londres. Em 1971, o crítico cultural brasileiro Silviano Santiago introduziu o conceito de 'Entre-Lugar' como uma lente vital para entender as dinâmicas intrincadas que surgem do choque das teorias ocidentais modernas com as complexidades da produção cultural contemporânea não-ocidental. Isso ofereceu profundidade às experiências de artistas e intelectuais envolvidos na produção de identidades, economias e estratégias estéticas presas entre o nativismo e o cosmopolitismo, desafiando também as noções ocidentais de originalidade cultural. Além disso, ajudou a moldar a compreensão da influência contínua das heranças coloniais e das dinâmicas de poder nos encontros culturais. Além de delinear uma posição crítica, o conceito de Entre-Lugar também se refere a espaços produtivos onde novas colaborações podem florescer - espaços onde sentimentos compartilhados dão origem à recriação criativa de ontologias, tecnologias, metodologias e práticas. Um espaço intermediário, em outras palavras, é também um lugar de aprendizado por meio de emulação, adaptação, colaboração e reflexão crítica. Para promover o máximo de participação possível, são bem-vindas propostas de painéis (750-1000 palavras) e artigos (250-500 palavras) sobre qualquer aspecto da pesquisa de jogos ou relacionada a jogos, escritas em inglês ou português. Os participantes podem apresentar online ou presencialmente; o prazo para envio de propostas é terça-feira, 3 de janeiro de 2024, e as propostas podem ser enviadas para inbetweenessofplay(a)googlegroups.com. Tópicos sugeridos incluem, mas não se limitam a, pesquisa sobre os espaços intermediários: - Sustentabilidade e Desenvolvimento - Acessibilidade e Design - Jogos Analógicos e Digitais - Amadores e Profissionais - Estúdios, Trabalhadores e Editores - Jogadores, Fãs e Espectadores - Corpos e Afetos - Trabalho e Lazer - Narrativa e Design - Plataformas e Culturas - Aprendizado e Ensino - Instituições e Esportes Eletrônicos - Pesquisa e Prática - Representação e Identidade - Pós-colonialismo e Descolonização - Pós-humanismo e Agência - Automação e Arte - Bibliografia Selecionada *Selected Bibliography* Amaro, M., & Fragoso, S. (2020). East meets South: The creative appropriation of Nintendo and Sega videogames in Brazil. *In Proceedings of the 2020 DIGRA International Conference: Play Anywhere*. http://www.digra.org/digital-library/forums/digra2020/page/11/. Blanco, B., & Job Da Silca, A. C. (2021). From The Scratchware Manifesto to Game Workers Unite: manifestos and labor claims in two decades of indie video games. *Contracampo*, 40(2). Chia, A. (2022). The artist and the automaton in digital game production. *Convergence*, 28(2), 389-412. de Paula, B. (2021). “Emergent countries play, too!”: The Zeebo console as a (partial) decolonial project.*Contracampo*, 40(2). Gallagher, R. (2022). Humanising gaming? The politics of posthuman agency in autobiographical videogames. *Convergence*, 28(2), 359-373. MacCallum-Stewart, E. (2013). Diggy Holes and Jaffa Cakes: The rise of the elite fanproducer in video-gaming culture. *Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds*, 5(2), 165-182. Ruffino, P., & Woodcock, J. (2021). Game workers and the empire: Unionisation in the UK video game industry. *Games and Culture*, 16(3), 317-328. Trigo, A. (2004). *The Space In-Between: Essays on Latin American Culture*. By Silviano Santiago. Edited by Anna Lúcia Gazzola. Translated by Tom Burns, Ana Lúcia Gazzola, and Gareth Williams. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001. Pp. 188. Webber, N. (2020). The Britishness of ‘British Video Games’. *International Journal of Cultural Policy*, 26(2), 135-149.

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CAiSE'24 Ph.D. Award: First Call for Applications
by Announce 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

*** Ph.D. Award: First Call for Applications *** 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE'24) June 3-7, 2024, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina, Limassol, Cyprus https://cyprusconferences.org/caise2024/ (*** Submission Deadline: 1st March, 2024 AoE ***) The deadline to apply for the CAiSE 2024 PhD Award is March 1st 2024. The conditions to apply are: • having participated as an author in a previous CAiSE Doctoral Consortium or at a main CAiSE Event: either the main conference, the CAiSE Forum, EMMSAD, or BPMDS; • having successfully defended the PhD thesis in the last two years (i.e., since January 2022). The application must be submitted electronically to the PhD Awards track of CAiSE 2024 via EasyChair <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=caise2024> . The application must be a single PDF file containing: • a short cover letter that includes the list of PhD committee members, • a support letter from the thesis advisor, • the candidate's defended PhD thesis, • the candidate’s CV. About the PhD Award The CAiSE PhD Award 2024 is granted annually to an outstanding recent PhD thesis in the field of Information Systems Engineering. The award is co-sponsored by the CAiSE Steering Committee and Springer. It consists of a certificate, free full registration (5 days) to the next two editions of the CAiSE conference, and a book voucher for a free selection worth EUR 500 from Springer’s printed books collection. In addition, the selected thesis will be recommended for publication as a monograph in the LNBIP series published by Springer, provided that Springer’s publication conditions are met. The PhD theses submitted for the award will be reviewed by a standing committee of senior members selected from the CAiSE Advisory Committee, the CAiSE Steering Committee, and the CAiSE Program Committee. Award Chair Professor Andreas L Opdahl, University of Bergen, Norway Key Dates • Submission of application: 1st March, 2024 (AoE) • Notification: 15th April, 2024 Past Recipents • 2023: Anna Bernasconi, PhD from Politecninco Milano (Italy), thesis title “Model, Integrate, Search... Repeat: a Sound Approach to Building Integrated Repositories of Genomic Data” (link to the forthcoming monograph: https://link.springer.com/book/9783031449062) • 2022: Volodymyr Leno, PhD from University of Melbourne (Australia), thesis title “Robotic Process Mining: Accelerating the adoption of Robotic Process Automation” (link to the thesis: https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/ 11343/297274/98f9efca-4dd2-eb11-94dc-0050568d0279_manuscript.pdf) • 2021: Orlenys Lopez Pintado, PhD from University of Tartu (Estonia), thesis title “Collaborative Business Process Execution on the Block Chain: the Caterpillar System” (link to the thesis: https://dspace.ut.ee/items/1e09072c-5442-463a-b8c6-0425951cb90b) • 2020: Steven Mertens, PhD from Ghent University (Belgium), thesis title “Enabling process management for loosely framed knowledge-intensive processes” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030661922) • 2019: Giovanni Meroni, PhD from Politecnico di Milano (Italy), thesis title “Artifact-driven business process monitoring” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030324117) • 2018: Wei Wang, PhD from University of Queensland (Australia) thesis title “Integrated Modeling of Business Processes and Business Rules” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030118082) • 2017: Marcela Ruiz, PhD from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain), thesis title “TraceME: A Traceability-Based Method for Conceptual Model Evolution” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319897158) • 2016: Le Minh Sang Tran, PhD from University of Trento (Italy), thesis title “Managing the Uncertainty of the Evolution of Requirements Models” (testimony of the 2016 CAiSE PhD Award winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-vvlH66lC4)

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CFP:Generative AI Age in Journalism: Unveiling Artificial Intelligence’s Potential and Challenges in the News Industry Worldwide
by allen munoriyarwa 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

Hello Everyone, I am writing to draw your attention to the special Issue below: *Generative AI Age in Journalism: Unveiling Artificial Intelligence’s Potential and Challenges in the News Industry Worldwide* Link: https://bit.ly/GenerativeAIAgeJournalism. *Guest Editors:* *Allen Munoriyarwa* *Department of Media Studies, University of Botswana* *Department of Communication and Media, University of Johannesburg * *Mathias-Felipe de-Lima-Santos* *Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam* *Digital Media and Society Observatory (DMSO), Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp)* D*eadlines: * - *Abstract Submission:* January 5th , 2024 - *Paper Submission: *June 30th, 2024 - *Expected Publication Date:* Q4 2024 – Q1/2025 In recent years, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in journalism and media production has sparked a global transformation in the way information is gathered, produced, and disseminated (de-Lima-Santos & Ceron, 2021). The term AI broadly refers to a field of computer science methods “dedicated to replicating human intelligence" (Broussard et al., 2019, p. 673). These technologies offer new possibilities for enhancing news gathering, content generation, audience engagement, and data analysis. Furthermore, they possess immense capabilities and offer incredible promises of transformation to media and journalism. Moreover, the AI-driven journalism landscape has witnessed a remarkable boom in the development and utilization of generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E (Gondwe, 2023). The surge of generative AI has had a profound impact on news production, where AI algorithms can generate articles, summaries, and even assist in investigative reporting. These technologies have provided easy to use tools for media organizations in creating content at scale, automating repetitive tasks, and enhancing data analysis. While AI-driven journalism has garnered substantial attention and analysis in different media landscapes, there is a growing recognition of the unique implications, challenges, and opportunities posed by AI in the news industry worldwide (Broussard et al., 2019). This special issue aims to fill this knowledge gap by exploring the appropriation of AI technologies in news production across different media contexts. The application of AI in different regions brings with it a set of complexities that necessitate in-depth investigation. For example, previous research has indicated that media professionals’ inclination toward AI skepticism in Africa is influenced by concerns about potential job cuts, the expenses associated with such deployment, inadequate training, ethical dilemmas surrounding these emerging technologies, and doubts regarding its effectiveness in the democratic process (Munoriyarwa et al., 2021). Conversely, Latin American practitioners hold mixed feelings, with both optimistic and pessimistic views about the application of AI in journalism. However, they mostly perceive such tools as an opportunity rather than as a threat (Soto-Sanfiel et al., 2022). Within this rich tapestry, media and journalism play vital roles in shaping societies, enabling civic engagement, and reflecting the voices of marginalized communities across the world. The significant influence of AI deployment, as shaped by the dynamics among platforms, governments, and media, is also noteworthy worldwide. This power dynamics could lead to more influential actors gaining control over media production and information dissemination, consequently impacting the media ecosystem (de-Lima-Santos et al., 2023; Kuai et al., 2022). Understanding the nuanced landscape of AI-enabled journalism requires considering a range of crucial factors. These include the vast linguistic diversity, with hundreds of languages spoken, making language processing and content personalization a unique challenge (Gondwe, 2023). Cultural sensitivity is paramount, as news and information production must respect the values and norms of diverse societies, often vastly different across the world (Kothari & Cruikshank, 2022). Furthermore, each region faces specific challenges related to media sustainability, including economic constraints, political pressures, and issues of representation. While AI has the potential to address some of these challenges, its application is far from uniform (de-Lima-Santos et al., 2021). Local news ecosystems, for instance, play a vital role in their communities, and understanding how AI can strengthen local journalism while maintaining cultural relevance is of utmost importance. This special issue seeks to shed light on these intricacies, explore the impact of AI on journalism and media moving beyond “North” and “South” dichotomy, and delve into the challenges and opportunities that arise of AI in news context. While countries in the Global North can actively experiment with AI solutions in their newsrooms (Jones & Jones, 2021; Pashevich, 2018; Stray 2021;), those in the Global South are often either playing catch-up or simply acting as recipients of the experiments conducted by these Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) nations. Thus, this special issue also aims to address the pressing concern of the “AI divide” across these regions, discussing the unequal access to AI technologies and knowledge, which can exacerbate existing (news production) inequalities within countries and across geographies. This can impose additional constraints on the global expansion of emerging technologies within the news media (Jamil, 2020). Understanding and mitigating this divide is a central concern, and this special issue will be a platform for scholarly inquiry and debates into these critical areas from a global perspective. With an eye on bridging gaps, promoting inclusivity, and narrowing the AI divide, this special issue seeks to gather research and insights that can inform the future of AI-enabled journalism within the “North” or the “South” in socioeconomic and political terms. We invite contributions that address but are not limited to the following themes in the context of the AI and journalism: - *AI deployment:* Comparing the development of AI technologies in newsrooms worldwide. - *Generative AI*: Leveraging this technology across the entire news value chain, transforming traditional processes and enhancing various aspects of news production, distribution, and consumption, while also necessitating careful consideration of ethical, human, and editorial implications - *AI tools for news production*: Exploring the use of AI technologies in newsrooms, including automated content generation, sentiment analysis, and fact-checking. - *Ethical and societal implications*: Examining the ethical considerations and societal impacts of AI-driven journalism in culturally and politically diverse regions. - *AI for media sustainability:* Examining innovative AI applications that promote sustainability in media organizations, revenue models, and content creation. - *AI and indigenous knowledge:* Investigating how AI technologies can promote or affect indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage in media coverage. - *AI for disaster reporting:* Analyzing the use of AI tools in disaster reporting, early warning systems, and response efforts in disaster-prone regions. - *Audience engagement and personalization*: Investigating AI-driven strategies for audience engagement, content personalization, and the role of AI in addressing language diversity. - *Media capture and democratization*: Analyzing the influence of AI on media capture, control, and the democratization of information in the Global North and South. - *Platforms dependence*: Analyzing the influence of platforms on AI deployment in the news industry. - *AI, censorship, and freedom of expression:* Assessing the impact of AI on freedom of expression, censorship, and surveillance in politically sensitive environments. - *AI and local news ecosystems: *Understanding the potential of AI in strengthening local journalism and addressing issues of representation. - *AI in investigative reporting*: Exploring the application of AI in investigative journalism, data mining, and open-source intelligence. - *AI in fact-checking*: Exploring the application of AI in fact-checking practices. - *AI and data-driven storytelling*: Investigating how data journalism is advancing worldwide and the role of AI in helping these practices, such as extracting, analyzing, and visualizing data. - *AI and health communication:* Exploring the use of AI applications in health journalism, pandemic coverage, and the dissemination of public health information. - *AI and environmental and humanitarian communication:* Exploring the use of AI applications in environmental journalism, climate crises, and humanitarian action. - *AI literacy:* Investigating the role of AI literacy in the context of technological innovations and its impact on newsrooms. - *AI and inclusivity:* Exploring how AI technologies can enhance or suppress media inclusivity and accessibility for underserved communities, including issues of language, accessibility, and representation. - *AI divide*: Addressing disparities in AI access, knowledge, and impact in the Global South in comparison to Global North/Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) countries. - *AI and power: *AI and power dynamics in newsrooms - *AI and journalistic role:* Global perceptions of journalistic roles in the age of AI - *AI and representations*: Exploring how AI represents North-South newsrooms, journalism, and media. We look forward to receiving your contributions and exploring the dynamic intersection of artificial intelligence and journalism. Follow the link here for more details: https://bit.ly/GenerativeAIAgeJournalism. Thank you and regards, Dr Allen Munoriyarwa PhD, Journalism, University of Johannesburg, (South Africa) Google Scholar link: https://bit.ly/3fxdWPp. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5064-3192 Coordinator: British Academy Research: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/sociology/projects/w… Board member: Intelwatch; https://intelwatch.org.za/ Email: allenmunoriyarwa(a)gmail.com.

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WEBCAST Dec 9 – Digital Freedom Summit 2023 in Kathmandu, Nepal
by Joly MacFie 09 Dec '23

09 Dec '23

This is just starting. No real time text since dual language, but it is mostly English. EN AI Captions are on in the zoom. Last year's event is just now archived <https://archive.org/details/digitalfreedomsummit2022> *[image: isoc live] <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d1cc4875eb7b4bfbb260b3fe…>On Saturday 9 December 2023, the Digital Freedom Coalition <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=47fdde0fb3089fad43643ea8…> presents Digital Freedom Summit 2023 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c56695ef289cc919f15e19c9…> in Kathmandu, Nepal. Under the theme 'Nurturing An Inclusive Digital Future', this year’s summit aims to further explore the evolving landscape of digital freedom in Nepal addressing the panel discussions, workshop and capacity building over critical issues surrounding digital freedom. This annual event serves as a catalyst for in-depth discussions, knowledge sharing, and collaboration, with the ultimate goal of democratizing Nepal’s digital transformation.* *AGENDA https://digitalfreedom.org.np/#!/schedule <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=b8c644b09a876ede1516f668…>* *NPT / UTC 09:30 / 03:45 Opening Ceremony* *Ananda Gautam*, Chair, Youth IGF Nepal *Dipesh Bista*, Chief Executive Officer, E-Governance Commission *Michael Croft* - Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Nepal - UNESCO *Prof. Dr. Rohan Samarajiva*, Chair, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka Professor Dr. Kilnam Chon, Founder of Internet in Asia Hon. Indira Rana Magar, Deputy Speaker, House Of Representatives 11:00- / 05:15 Regulation of Cyberspace : Lessons for Nepal Moderator: Laxman Dutt Pant, President, Media Action Nepal Netra Prasad Subedi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Communication and IT (MoCIT) Taranath Dahal, Executive Chief, Freedom Forum Nepal Samiran Gupta, Vice President, Government and IGO Engagement APAC & Stakeholder Engagement South Asia, ICANN Prof. Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, Chair, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka Victoria Hyde, Asia Internet Coalition, Singapore 12:00 / 06:15 Freedom to Digital Infrastructure: Ensuring Inclusive Internet Moderator: Birodh Khatiwada, President, Disabled Care Nepal Hon. Prakash Panth, Member of Parliament, National Assembly, Nepal Er. Min Prasad Aryal, Director, Nepal Telecommunications Authority Sagar Prasai, Founder & Managing Director, Diverse Patterns Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Bimal Acharya, Manager, Nepal Telecom (TBC) Susmeera Aryal, Co-founder/Executive Director, Women’s Group for Disability Rights 14:00 / 08:15 Internet Fragmentation in Nepal :Issues and Perspectives Moderator: Ujjwal Acharya, Founding chair, CMR Nepal Prakash Rayamajhi, IT Expert, Rht. Hon. Pushpa Kamal Dahal Sangeeta Pahadi, Managing Director, Nepal Telecom (TBC) Bikram Shrestha, President, Nepal Internet Foundation, Santosh Sigdel, Executive Director, Digital Rights Nepal Shashank Mohan, CCG, National LAw Univercity, New Delhi 15:00 / 09:15 Truth and Trust: Ethical and Legal Responses to Misinformation Moderator: Bhakta Bishwokarma, Media Expert Anil Kumar Dutta, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Communications and IT Narayan Amrit, Chief Editor, NepalClicks.Com Nirjana Sharma, Head, Communications, UNESCO Kathmandu Office Avijeet Anturker, Advocate, Anturker and Associates, Pune, India Victoria Hyde, Asia Internet Coalition, Singapore/London 16:30 / 10:45 Regulation of Artificial Intelligence: What Parliament Thinks About? Moderator: Babu Ram Aryal, Chair, Digital Freedom Coalition Hon. CK Raut, Chairman and Member of Parliament, Janamat Party Hon. Jeevan Pariyaar, Member of Parliament, Nepali Congress Hon. Yogesh Bhattarai, Member of Parliament, CPN, UML Hon. Sumana Shrestha, Member of Parliament, RSP Hon. Bhanubhakta Jaisi, Member of Parliament, CPN (Unified Marxist) 17:30 / 11:45 Closing Ceremony *LIVESTREAM https://livestream.com/internetsociety/digitalfreedomsummit2023 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=af4b2957f9015b5f4e2f9a4a…>* *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/49ZQd5n <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d932796bacaf24b37935f166…>* *REAL TIME TEXT* (see *ISOC.LIVE <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=05682a46cd9c6fab9498038a…>* ) *TWITTER #digitalfreedomsummit <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=aa3bce61b1bd4f857745c865…> #nepal @igovinstitute @DigitalMediaNP @MediaActionNpl @Educating_Nepal @yigfnepal @AntennaFN #Nepal @isoc_community* *MASTODON #digitalfreedomsummit <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c5f21387e5ea7047183d3a73…>* *SIMULCASTS* *https://twitter.com/ISOC_Live <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ef145916936f183d5f46389c…>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d828f6b56570e8db05093653…>* *https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/ <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4979d129ad1254e1aa7c278c…> *(AI Captions) *https://www.facebook.com/isocasiapacific/ <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=de00e7949ca9be0319ddefdb…> *(AI Captions) *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/digitalfreedomsummit2023 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3c55cb9c58d6a1237ef6192c…>* Permalink https://isoc.live/17114 -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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New tripleC article by Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski: Against the Power of Computers and the Destruction of Reason. For the Development of Human Creativity and Judgement. Remembering the Critical Intellectual Joseph Weizenbaum on the Occasion of his 100th Birthday
by Christian Fuchs 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski: Against the Power of Computers and the Destruction of Reason. For the Development of Human Creativity and Judgement. Remembering the Critical Intellectual Joseph Weizenbaum on the Occasion of his 100th Birthday tripleC 21 (2): 140-146 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v21i2.1479 Abstract This article is a reflection on the relevance of Joseph Weizenbaum’s ethics today on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Today, there are many debates about the impact of AI technologies such as ChatGPT on society. Weizenbaum understood himself not as a computer and AI critic, but as a critic of society. He situated the problems of computing in the context of society. The paper shows that in the spirit of Weizenbaum we should also in the contemporary age of advanced AI remind ourselves that computers cannot understand, do not have feelings, and therefore cannot do many things that humans actively and consciously do. Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski is a German computer scientist and philosopher of science. He was a Professor of Information Processing at Humboldt University in Berlin. In 2022, he was awarded the Wiener-Schmidt-Price by the German Society for Cybernetics (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kybernetik).

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CFP SI Eptic journal - Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking
by Jonas Valente 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

* Call for papers: Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking* Artificial intelligence is a subject that has been increasingly popular in academia, in public debates, among authorities, and in mass media. Therefore, different knowledge fields have been dealing with it, pushing the debate out of the limits of exact sciences and computer science. In the fields of the humanities and social sciences, artificial intelligence has been analyzed through different approaches, such as power relations (Dyer-Whiteford et al., 2019), the limits of autonomy and its relation to humankind (Davies, 2008), the impacts on the relations of production (Benanav, 2020), the adverse effects such as in discriminatory practices (Benjamin, 2023), and the automation of human activities in areas such as law (Pasquale, 2019) and education (Zhai et al. 2021). Nevertheless, it is worth noting that a significant part of these approaches, far from the critique of political economy, falls under the traps of fetishism (Marx, 2013, 2014, 2017) and does not reveal the essential aspects hidden in the manifestations of the phenomenon. But there are exceptions, such as the works of Dyer-Whiteford et al. (2019), Lindgreen (2023), Steinhoff (2021), Gong (2021), Yi (2020), Cole et al. (2022) and Verdegem (2021), among others. However, these kinds of efforts need to be further expanded. It is urgent to adopt Marxist thinking and the arms of critique to unveil and analyze the social form that artificial intelligence assumes as an instrument of capital, as well as an instrument of alienation and estrangement of human labor, of labor instruments, of fruits from labor, and, ultimately, of human essence (Marx, 2004). Eptic Journal (ISSN 1518-2487) invites authors to submit articles to the dossier entitled *Artificial Intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking.* Articles can be submitted until 16 February 2024. Texts must follow the journal's standard format <https://periodicos.ufs.br/eptic/announcement/view/444>. *We will receive submissions that deal with the following subjects:* - Labor and social relations in the realm of artificial intelligence. - How artificial intelligence affects working relations and capitalist exploitation in different sectors of the economy. - Aspects of formal subsumption and real subsumption of labor under capital in the context of artificial intelligence. - Impacts of artificial intelligence on the technical division of labor and the social division of labor. - How economic agents design and/or adopt artificial intelligence techniques. - Policies concerning the development and use of artificial intelligence. - The struggles in the sphere of regulation of artificial intelligence. - How the process of production and distribution of value and wealth are affected by the adoption of artificial intelligence. - Dependence and economic subordination of periphery countries in relation to countries that lead the design and use of artificial intelligence. - Artificial intelligence as a capitalist instrument of economic, symbolic, and political power. - Impacts of artificial intelligence in communication and culture from Marxist and critical perspectives. - Ethics challenges in the field of artificial intelligence from a critical perspective. - Resistances and possibilities of use of artificial intelligence as an instrument to face the capital order and its sociability. The focus of the dossier will be theoretical and empirical analyses based on the critique of political economy, as well as Marxist and critical thinking. *Deadline to submissions: 16 February, 2024* *Editors:* James Steinhoff - University College Dublin Jonas Valente - Oxford Internet Institute Rodrigo Moreno Marques - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Instructions for submissions are available at revistaeptic.net.br Kind regards, *Dr Jonas C L Valente* Postdoctoral Researcher, Fairwork Project Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford -- Jonas Valente http://twitter.com/jonasvalente

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