Les 1: Introduction to digital media & technology.........................................................6
Introduction to digital media and technologies (Art. 1)..............................................6
Digital media & technology.....................................................................................6
The digital environment..........................................................................................6
New and old media..................................................................................................6
Features of digital media.........................................................................................7
Digital infrastructures..............................................................................................8
Technology and society...........................................................................................8
A day in the life with digital media (Art. 2).................................................................8
Introduction.............................................................................................................8
Meaningful and mundane........................................................................................8
Media use................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...............................................................................................................9
Les 2: Making sense of big data.....................................................................................9
Making sense of big data (Art. 3)................................................................................9
Introduction.............................................................................................................9
Big data...................................................................................................................9
Different purposes.................................................................................................10
Ten common characteristics of big data...............................................................10
Example: Facebook Data.......................................................................................11
Big data: case studies (Art. 4)..................................................................................12
Introduction...........................................................................................................12
Political elections...................................................................................................12
Weather.................................................................................................................12
GDP........................................................................................................................13
Conditions for big data predictive success............................................................13
Conclusion.............................................................................................................13
Les 3: Algorithms in the world.....................................................................................14
Introduction to algorithms........................................................................................14
Defining algorithms...............................................................................................14
Algorithmic techniques..........................................................................................15
Types of algorithms...............................................................................................15
The degree of automation.....................................................................................15
Recommender systems.........................................................................................16
Recommender system techniques........................................................................16
Algorithmic bias........................................................................................................16
Algorithmic perceptions............................................................................................16
How people perceive algorithms...........................................................................16
, Algorithmic appreciation.......................................................................................17
Algorithmic aversion..............................................................................................17
Misconceptions about algorithms (Art. 5).................................................................17
Introduction...........................................................................................................17
Literature...............................................................................................................17
Algorithmic misconceptions..................................................................................17
Research questions...............................................................................................18
Results...................................................................................................................18
Algorithms and online news: algorithmic values (Art. 6)..........................................19
Introduction and background................................................................................19
Algorithmic curation..............................................................................................19
Algorithmic values.................................................................................................19
Research question.................................................................................................20
Results...................................................................................................................20
Les 4: Deepfakes & disinformation..............................................................................20
Introduction to deepfakes.........................................................................................20
Deepfakes: societal benefits and costs.................................................................21
Deep fakes, fake news and what comes next (Art. 7)..............................................21
Background...........................................................................................................21
Information warfare and deepfakes......................................................................22
The publicity problem............................................................................................22
The ultimate attribution error................................................................................22
Solutions to the coming deep fake wave...............................................................23
Conclusion.............................................................................................................23
The deceptiveness of deepfakes (Art. 8)..................................................................24
The rise of deepfakes............................................................................................24
The renewed power of visual communication.......................................................24
Political deepfakes as a distinctive form of visual disinformation.........................24
Deepfakes, uncertainty and trust..........................................................................24
Conclusion.............................................................................................................25
Les 5: Automated bots.................................................................................................26
Introduction to automated bots................................................................................26
What are automated bots.....................................................................................26
Political bots on social media................................................................................26
How do political bots work.....................................................................................26
The tactics of political bots during elections.........................................................26
Brexit Campaign....................................................................................................27
Which tactics do political bots use? (Art. 9).............................................................27
, Introduction...........................................................................................................27
Political bots, trolls and cyber troops....................................................................27
Computational propaganda...................................................................................28
Political bots & the public sphere..........................................................................28
Political bots’ interaction & messaging tactics......................................................28
Bots’ targeting of the immigration debate............................................................28
Results: general insights.......................................................................................29
Results...................................................................................................................29
Discussion..............................................................................................................29
Robot journalism (news bots)...................................................................................29
Robot journalism....................................................................................................29
Advantages of robot journalism............................................................................30
Critics fear…..........................................................................................................30
The credibility of robot journalism (Art. 10)..............................................................30
introduction...........................................................................................................30
Results...................................................................................................................30
Discussion..............................................................................................................31
Les 6: Virtual & augmented reality..............................................................................32
Introduction to AR & VR (Art. 11)..............................................................................32
Introduction...........................................................................................................32
Augmented reality (AR).........................................................................................32
Technological background of AR...........................................................................33
Virtual reality.........................................................................................................33
Immersion & presence...........................................................................................33
Types of VR systems.............................................................................................34
Travel experiences with VR...................................................................................34
The metaverse era?..................................................................................................34
AR filters on social media (Art. 12)...........................................................................34
Introduction...........................................................................................................34
Self-concept and self-discrepancy theory.............................................................35
Augmented reality.................................................................................................35
AR and self-concept...............................................................................................35
Higher ideal standard for attractiveness and increase in ideal-actual gap...........35
Social comparison, leading to broadening ideal-actual gap..................................36
The dark side of broadening the ideal-actual gap.................................................36
Reducing the gap by creative use of AR filters.....................................................36
Ideal-actual gap and feelings of well-being...........................................................36
Les 7: Large Language Models....................................................................................37
, Introduction to LLMs.................................................................................................37
What are LLMs.......................................................................................................37
Training an LLM.....................................................................................................37
Where LLMs are used in today..............................................................................38
Uprising of the machines.......................................................................................38
Greatest strength = weakness..............................................................................38
Can people distinguish between human and AI (Art. 13).........................................39
Humans vs machines.............................................................................................39
Study.....................................................................................................................39
Discussion..............................................................................................................39
Recap.....................................................................................................................40
Key concepts: persuasion research.......................................................................40
Can LLMs persuade................................................................................................40
LLM persuasion in practice....................................................................................40
Caste study: LLMs and advertising........................................................................41
LLMs: the future of advertising..............................................................................41
Towards hypertargeted advertising......................................................................41
Optimising for persuasiveness..............................................................................41
Persuasive chatbots for everyone.........................................................................42
LLMs: The good, the bad and the ugly..................................................................42
LLMs & communication science: Emerging Perspectives.........................................42
AI & communication..............................................................................................42
Human-machine communication...........................................................................42
A HMC research agenda........................................................................................42
Talking to the clouds.............................................................................................43
Traditional models: Schramm ‘54..........................................................................43
LLMs as opportunity..............................................................................................43
Wrap up.................................................................................................................44
Les 8: Chatbots & Virtual assistants............................................................................44
Introduction to chatbots...........................................................................................44
Conversational agents...........................................................................................44
How do chatbots work?.........................................................................................44
The strategic opportunities...................................................................................44
When are chatbots effective tools for companies (Art. 15)......................................45
Introduction...........................................................................................................45
Theoretical framework...........................................................................................45
Study.....................................................................................................................45
Results...................................................................................................................45
Introduction to digital media and technologies (Art. 1)..............................................6
Digital media & technology.....................................................................................6
The digital environment..........................................................................................6
New and old media..................................................................................................6
Features of digital media.........................................................................................7
Digital infrastructures..............................................................................................8
Technology and society...........................................................................................8
A day in the life with digital media (Art. 2).................................................................8
Introduction.............................................................................................................8
Meaningful and mundane........................................................................................8
Media use................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...............................................................................................................9
Les 2: Making sense of big data.....................................................................................9
Making sense of big data (Art. 3)................................................................................9
Introduction.............................................................................................................9
Big data...................................................................................................................9
Different purposes.................................................................................................10
Ten common characteristics of big data...............................................................10
Example: Facebook Data.......................................................................................11
Big data: case studies (Art. 4)..................................................................................12
Introduction...........................................................................................................12
Political elections...................................................................................................12
Weather.................................................................................................................12
GDP........................................................................................................................13
Conditions for big data predictive success............................................................13
Conclusion.............................................................................................................13
Les 3: Algorithms in the world.....................................................................................14
Introduction to algorithms........................................................................................14
Defining algorithms...............................................................................................14
Algorithmic techniques..........................................................................................15
Types of algorithms...............................................................................................15
The degree of automation.....................................................................................15
Recommender systems.........................................................................................16
Recommender system techniques........................................................................16
Algorithmic bias........................................................................................................16
Algorithmic perceptions............................................................................................16
How people perceive algorithms...........................................................................16
, Algorithmic appreciation.......................................................................................17
Algorithmic aversion..............................................................................................17
Misconceptions about algorithms (Art. 5).................................................................17
Introduction...........................................................................................................17
Literature...............................................................................................................17
Algorithmic misconceptions..................................................................................17
Research questions...............................................................................................18
Results...................................................................................................................18
Algorithms and online news: algorithmic values (Art. 6)..........................................19
Introduction and background................................................................................19
Algorithmic curation..............................................................................................19
Algorithmic values.................................................................................................19
Research question.................................................................................................20
Results...................................................................................................................20
Les 4: Deepfakes & disinformation..............................................................................20
Introduction to deepfakes.........................................................................................20
Deepfakes: societal benefits and costs.................................................................21
Deep fakes, fake news and what comes next (Art. 7)..............................................21
Background...........................................................................................................21
Information warfare and deepfakes......................................................................22
The publicity problem............................................................................................22
The ultimate attribution error................................................................................22
Solutions to the coming deep fake wave...............................................................23
Conclusion.............................................................................................................23
The deceptiveness of deepfakes (Art. 8)..................................................................24
The rise of deepfakes............................................................................................24
The renewed power of visual communication.......................................................24
Political deepfakes as a distinctive form of visual disinformation.........................24
Deepfakes, uncertainty and trust..........................................................................24
Conclusion.............................................................................................................25
Les 5: Automated bots.................................................................................................26
Introduction to automated bots................................................................................26
What are automated bots.....................................................................................26
Political bots on social media................................................................................26
How do political bots work.....................................................................................26
The tactics of political bots during elections.........................................................26
Brexit Campaign....................................................................................................27
Which tactics do political bots use? (Art. 9).............................................................27
, Introduction...........................................................................................................27
Political bots, trolls and cyber troops....................................................................27
Computational propaganda...................................................................................28
Political bots & the public sphere..........................................................................28
Political bots’ interaction & messaging tactics......................................................28
Bots’ targeting of the immigration debate............................................................28
Results: general insights.......................................................................................29
Results...................................................................................................................29
Discussion..............................................................................................................29
Robot journalism (news bots)...................................................................................29
Robot journalism....................................................................................................29
Advantages of robot journalism............................................................................30
Critics fear…..........................................................................................................30
The credibility of robot journalism (Art. 10)..............................................................30
introduction...........................................................................................................30
Results...................................................................................................................30
Discussion..............................................................................................................31
Les 6: Virtual & augmented reality..............................................................................32
Introduction to AR & VR (Art. 11)..............................................................................32
Introduction...........................................................................................................32
Augmented reality (AR).........................................................................................32
Technological background of AR...........................................................................33
Virtual reality.........................................................................................................33
Immersion & presence...........................................................................................33
Types of VR systems.............................................................................................34
Travel experiences with VR...................................................................................34
The metaverse era?..................................................................................................34
AR filters on social media (Art. 12)...........................................................................34
Introduction...........................................................................................................34
Self-concept and self-discrepancy theory.............................................................35
Augmented reality.................................................................................................35
AR and self-concept...............................................................................................35
Higher ideal standard for attractiveness and increase in ideal-actual gap...........35
Social comparison, leading to broadening ideal-actual gap..................................36
The dark side of broadening the ideal-actual gap.................................................36
Reducing the gap by creative use of AR filters.....................................................36
Ideal-actual gap and feelings of well-being...........................................................36
Les 7: Large Language Models....................................................................................37
, Introduction to LLMs.................................................................................................37
What are LLMs.......................................................................................................37
Training an LLM.....................................................................................................37
Where LLMs are used in today..............................................................................38
Uprising of the machines.......................................................................................38
Greatest strength = weakness..............................................................................38
Can people distinguish between human and AI (Art. 13).........................................39
Humans vs machines.............................................................................................39
Study.....................................................................................................................39
Discussion..............................................................................................................39
Recap.....................................................................................................................40
Key concepts: persuasion research.......................................................................40
Can LLMs persuade................................................................................................40
LLM persuasion in practice....................................................................................40
Caste study: LLMs and advertising........................................................................41
LLMs: the future of advertising..............................................................................41
Towards hypertargeted advertising......................................................................41
Optimising for persuasiveness..............................................................................41
Persuasive chatbots for everyone.........................................................................42
LLMs: The good, the bad and the ugly..................................................................42
LLMs & communication science: Emerging Perspectives.........................................42
AI & communication..............................................................................................42
Human-machine communication...........................................................................42
A HMC research agenda........................................................................................42
Talking to the clouds.............................................................................................43
Traditional models: Schramm ‘54..........................................................................43
LLMs as opportunity..............................................................................................43
Wrap up.................................................................................................................44
Les 8: Chatbots & Virtual assistants............................................................................44
Introduction to chatbots...........................................................................................44
Conversational agents...........................................................................................44
How do chatbots work?.........................................................................................44
The strategic opportunities...................................................................................44
When are chatbots effective tools for companies (Art. 15)......................................45
Introduction...........................................................................................................45
Theoretical framework...........................................................................................45
Study.....................................................................................................................45
Results...................................................................................................................45
