Short Listening Spans: The Lost Art of Conversation in the Social Media Age? Our world is rich with distractions – maybe too rich. It used to be TV, now blame is more often focused on social media. Many people find it difficult to focus on reading a book or even an email, or writing a … Continue reading Short Listening Spans
Arts and Humanities
Ukraine’s Networked Resilience
I have just finished an online discussion at Mariupol State University. It was an American-Ukrainian panel discussion on the development of public studies [public communication in the US] in Ukrainian higher educational institutions (HEIs). In addition to myself, it involved faculty from the Cambridge Judge Business School, Mariupol State University, the MIT-Ukraine Program at the … Continue reading Ukraine’s Networked Resilience
Professor Steve Jones Awarded the Williams Prize for Contribution to the Study of Communication and Technology
My congratulations to Professor Steve Jones, the UIC Distinguished Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), who has been awarded the Williams Prize for Contribution to the Study of Communication and Technology. The award was announced at the 74th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, held in Australia from 20-24 June … Continue reading Professor Steve Jones Awarded the Williams Prize for Contribution to the Study of Communication and Technology
AI REGULATION
A. Michael Noll March 4, 2024 © Copyright 2024 AMN [This blog is authored by A. Michael Noll, an Emeritus Professor at USC, and a early pioneer in digital computer art and 3D animation and tactile communication at Bell Labs. Posted with the permission of the author.] Regulators like to regulate, and technology and big … Continue reading AI REGULATION
Information is Powerful: Research on Ukraine
On the second anniversary of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I want to acknowledge and thank the growing number of researchers who are exploring the incredibly wide range of issues tied to the war in Ukraine. Many academics at all levels of academia are contributing their skills and training to Ukraine in one of … Continue reading Information is Powerful: Research on Ukraine
The Fifth Estate Transformed
My book on The Fifth Estate (Oxford University Press) was published in 2023, so it was wonderful to get a Christmas gift of the book transformed into a different form – from a book to a complex paper work. I would never have thought of representing my book in the way Thurle Wright has done … Continue reading The Fifth Estate Transformed
Don Diego Illustrated by Patrick Atkins
My wonderful bulldog, Don Diego, appeared in an illustration for a book, entitled The Puppy Prophet.* The book by David Cary Lane was illustrated by Patrick Atkins, my younger daughter’s partner. It was one of my most interesting Christmas presents. Along with the book came an illustration by Patrick, as he is an illustrator, which … Continue reading Don Diego Illustrated by Patrick Atkins
Opinion: A. Michael Noll on AI Hype
AI CRAZED HYPE A. Michael Noll Posted with permission of the author AI (artificial intelligence) is gripping the media. The claim is made that computers can think and understand language. Predictions are being made that AI will replace human creativity in music, art, and literature. Others predict that the harm from AI will mean the … Continue reading Opinion: A. Michael Noll on AI Hype
The Societal Costs of Attention Deficits
The attention of a goldfish?
Cognitive Politics
In the preface to Harold D. Lasswell’s (1936: v) book entitled Politics, he famously defined politics as the study of ‘who gets what, when, and how’ – also the subtitle of his book. He went on to argue that influence is central to politics and that “[c]oncepts for the study of influence must be changed … Continue reading Cognitive Politics