Seminars - Other events
Previous Maven of the month
KMi Maven of the Month was a pioneering initiative we launched back in 1995, in collaboration with the BBC's Open University Production Unit. This was one of the first Internet Talk Radio anywhere in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_talk_radio), which used state of the art technologies (for the time...), including RealAudio, CU-SeeMe, Netscape browser and chat windows, as well as standard telephone landlines.
29 years later, we are relaunching it, inviting top experts from around the world to discuss major socio-technological topics with an audience that comprises both members of the Knowledge Media Institute, as well as the wider staff at The Open University.
Maven: Prof. Nick Diakopoulos
Event Title: News Media in the Age of AI
Event Date: May 17th | 3 - 4 PM (BST)
From hidden connections in big data to bots spreading fake news, journalism is both enhanced and challenged by algorithms, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI). In this talk I'll elaborate two central themes: (1) how news values are embedded and designed into automation technologies for journalism, and (2) how journalistic practices are evolving as algorithms are blended into hybrid editorial workflows. Ill describe these themes with respect to recent and ongoing research at the forefront of computational news discovery and automated text production before stepping back to discuss a set of provocations for future research, education, and the design of algorithms, automation, and AI technology to support robust and sustainable journalism.
Bio: Nicholas Diakopoulos is an Associate Professor in Communication Studies and Computer Science (by courtesy) at Northwestern University where he directs the Computational Journalism Lab and is Director of Graduate Studies for the Technology and Social Behavior PhD program. His research focuses on computational journalism, including aspects of automation and algorithms in news production, algorithmic accountability and transparency, and social media in news contexts. Recently he authored the award-winning book, Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media, published by Harvard University Press. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his Sc.B. degree in Computer Engineering from Brown University.
