an article by Phillip Brooker (University of Liverpool, UK) published in The Sociological Review Volume 67 Issue 6 (November 2019)
Abstract
This article examines bots – software applications that automate web-based tasks, and which often mimic human interaction and communication – to consider sociological responses to software design and computer programming.
Leveraging design methodologies for critical sociological purposes (a) allows us to envision programming as a means of opening up ‘black boxes’ by engaging more directly with the code through which software applications are executed, and (b) indicates the potential for sociology practitioners to design software ourselves – to build applications that fulfil the radical promise of sociology by intervening in social processes.
To concretise these ideas, this article presents two stories about social media bots developed by the author: ‘Philbot’ (a Facebook random status generator) and ‘@_Zen_Bot_’ (a Twitter service that provides mock lifestyle advice to users).
On the basis of this demonstration, the article proposes a near-future vision of sociology where Programming-as-Social-Science features as a core research method/skill/tool.
Showing posts with label bots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bots. Show all posts
Monday, 18 November 2019
Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Can talking to a bot help you feel better?
an article by Ciara Byrne for Fast Company [brought to us by World of Psychology’s “Psychology Around the Net”]
Amid a growing crisis in addiction and mental health, tireless machines are offering a new form of care—and raising new questions.
One of the world’s first chatbots was a therapist. Built in 1964 by MIT researcher Jerome Weizenbaum, the program, called ELIZA, was designed to mimic techniques from Rogerian psychotherapy where the therapist prompts the patient to examine their own thoughts and feelings.
Weizenbaum gave the following example of a typical conversation with ELIZA:
– Men are all alike.
– IN WHAT WAY
– They’re always bugging us about something or other.
– CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE
– Well, my boyfriend made me come here.
– YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE
– He says I’m depressed much of the time.
– I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE DEPRESSED
– It’s true. I am unhappy.
– DO YOU THINK THAT COMING HERE WILL HELP YOU NOT TO BE UNHAPPY
– I need some help. That much seems certain.
ELIZA had no memory or understanding of the conversation. It merely searched for a keyword in the last sentence typed in by its interlocutor and calculated an answer using a rule associated with the keyword. Nevertheless, and much to Weizenbaum’s dismay, many users became convinced that ELIZA understood them.
“ELIZA created the most remarkable illusion of having understood in the minds of many people who conversed with it,” Weizenbaum reported. Users would often demand to be permitted to converse with the system in private. This phenomenon became known as the ELIZA effect. The era of the non-human listener had begun.
Continue reading
Amid a growing crisis in addiction and mental health, tireless machines are offering a new form of care—and raising new questions.
One of the world’s first chatbots was a therapist. Built in 1964 by MIT researcher Jerome Weizenbaum, the program, called ELIZA, was designed to mimic techniques from Rogerian psychotherapy where the therapist prompts the patient to examine their own thoughts and feelings.
Weizenbaum gave the following example of a typical conversation with ELIZA:
– Men are all alike.
– IN WHAT WAY
– They’re always bugging us about something or other.
– CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE
– Well, my boyfriend made me come here.
– YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE
– He says I’m depressed much of the time.
– I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE DEPRESSED
– It’s true. I am unhappy.
– DO YOU THINK THAT COMING HERE WILL HELP YOU NOT TO BE UNHAPPY
– I need some help. That much seems certain.
ELIZA had no memory or understanding of the conversation. It merely searched for a keyword in the last sentence typed in by its interlocutor and calculated an answer using a rule associated with the keyword. Nevertheless, and much to Weizenbaum’s dismay, many users became convinced that ELIZA understood them.
“ELIZA created the most remarkable illusion of having understood in the minds of many people who conversed with it,” Weizenbaum reported. Users would often demand to be permitted to converse with the system in private. This phenomenon became known as the ELIZA effect. The era of the non-human listener had begun.
Continue reading
Friday, 7 December 2018
Weaponizing the haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation
an article by Morten Bay (UCLA Dept. of Information Studies / USC Center for the Digital Future) published in First Monday Volume 23 Number 11 (November 2018)
Abstract
Political discourse on social media is seen by many as polarized, vitriolic and permeated by falsehoods and misinformation. Political operators have exploited all of these aspects of the discourse for strategic purposes, most famously during the Russian social media influence campaign during the 2016 presidential election in the United States and current, similar efforts targeting the U.S. elections in 2018 and 2020.
The results of the social media study presented in this paper presents evidence that political influence through manipulation of social media discussions is no longer exclusive to political debate but can now also be found in pop culture.
Specifically, this study examines a collection of tweets relating to a much-publicized fan dispute over the Star Wars franchise film Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. This study finds evidence of deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments. The likely objective of these measures is increasing media coverage of the fandom conflict, thereby adding to and further propagating a narrative of widespread discord and dysfunction in American society.
Persuading voters of this narrative remains a strategic goal for the U.S. alt-right movement, as well as the Russian Federation. The results of this study show that among those who address The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson directly on Twitter to express their dissatisfaction, more than half are bots, trolls/sock puppets or political activists using the debate to propagate political messages supporting extreme right-wing causes and the discrimination of gender, race or sexuality.
A number of these users appear to be Russian trolls. The paper concludes that while it is only a minority of Twitter accounts that tweet negatively about The Last Jedi, organized attempts at politicizing the pop culture discourse on social media for strategic purposes are significant enough that users should be made aware of these measures, so they can act accordingly.
Full text (HTML)
Abstract
Political discourse on social media is seen by many as polarized, vitriolic and permeated by falsehoods and misinformation. Political operators have exploited all of these aspects of the discourse for strategic purposes, most famously during the Russian social media influence campaign during the 2016 presidential election in the United States and current, similar efforts targeting the U.S. elections in 2018 and 2020.
The results of the social media study presented in this paper presents evidence that political influence through manipulation of social media discussions is no longer exclusive to political debate but can now also be found in pop culture.
Specifically, this study examines a collection of tweets relating to a much-publicized fan dispute over the Star Wars franchise film Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. This study finds evidence of deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments. The likely objective of these measures is increasing media coverage of the fandom conflict, thereby adding to and further propagating a narrative of widespread discord and dysfunction in American society.
Persuading voters of this narrative remains a strategic goal for the U.S. alt-right movement, as well as the Russian Federation. The results of this study show that among those who address The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson directly on Twitter to express their dissatisfaction, more than half are bots, trolls/sock puppets or political activists using the debate to propagate political messages supporting extreme right-wing causes and the discrimination of gender, race or sexuality.
A number of these users appear to be Russian trolls. The paper concludes that while it is only a minority of Twitter accounts that tweet negatively about The Last Jedi, organized attempts at politicizing the pop culture discourse on social media for strategic purposes are significant enough that users should be made aware of these measures, so they can act accordingly.
Full text (HTML)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
