New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

China’s Social Credit System could bring George Orwell’s 1984 character ‘Big Brother’ to life by allowing Big Data Surveillance to control Chinese public life

Any person who has seen the critically acclaimed Netflix show ‘Black Mirror’ will think the following is straight out of a dystopian futurology thriller. Unfortunately, the idea of every member in society being attributed a ‘social credit score’ based...

By Victor Bouwmeester on 09/23/18 Comments Off

The Zero UI Music Player

One of the most iconic computers in cinema is certainly HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s epos 2001: A Space Odyssey. With all inner workings hidden beneath a red light in a camera lens, the mischievous A.I. created an eerie atmosphere...

By Frederic Vosseberg on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Is your personal safety app keeping you safe?

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports, “one in three women globally have been sexually or physically abused- amounting to some 800 million people world-wide.” One of the tools gaining acceptance among women to help prevent harassment is ‘Safetipin:...

By Kanchana Varghese on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Spare Change Investment: Saving for the Future or Selling Out Today?

Millennials are a new target market. Personal growth, independence, and self-improvement are trends especially prominent with generation Y and Z. Right in tune, finances are following suit with budget, mobile payment and now investment apps like Acorns and Moneybox....

By Vanessa Richter on 09/23/18 Comments Off

The only way to save the Internet is to claim it back from Big Data

Sometime in November, the proportion of humans on earth using the web will exceed 50%. Close to 4 billion people will have become internet “users”, bringing with them 4 billion sets of data. Tim-Berners Lee created the internet and...

By Lucie Chateau on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Amazon-Go stores – A critical analysis of the cashless stores of the future

Recently, Amazon opened its second cashier-free Go store in the United States and announced the planning 3000 new ones by the year of 2021. Other companies, such as Tesco and Ikea are planning on testing such cashless systems as...

By Maria Stenzel Timmermans on 09/23/18 Comments Off

SleepScore Max: Are Big Data the New Digital Doctors?

In the present media landscape, big data has revolutionized the way in which we regulate, analyse and influence data across several industries — one of which is healthcare. With the ability to monitor patients based on sensors embedded in...

By Anika Doshi on 09/23/18 Comments Off

ProPublica is Re-Purposing Data for Social Reforms

Whether you were scrolling through your Facebook news’ feed or simply reading tweets about the most recent political scandals, chances are you have been exposed to contradictory information, and even ‘fake news’. On the internet, anyone can spread dishonest...

By Laurie Le Bomin on 09/23/18 Comments Off

iPhone Face ID: Privacy issues we should worry about

On September 12th 2017, the new iPhone X was introduced by CEO Tim Cook during an Apple event that took place at the Steve Jobs Theatre in the Apple Park. Due to its features, this smartphone is considered to be the most...

By Amber de Zeeuw on 09/25/17 Comments Off

New Google Feed: What about privacy?

In July of this year, Google Inc. delivered a new feature for its Google app called Feed. This addition transforms the front page of the app into a news and information feed, where news articles and suggestions are presented...

By Katliin Soosalu on 09/24/17 Comments Off

A click away from giving up our autonomy? – A critical view on Amazon’s new Dash button

The alarm clock rings, you slowly make your way to the coffee machine since there is no other way of functioning at a time like that, but then realize you ran out of coffee yesterday. What a disaster! But...

By Mariessa Radermacher on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Is Apple our Online-Privacy Vigilante?

Abstract: Apple purports that its new Intelligent Tracking Prevention Technology integrated in Safari browser prevents 3rd-party cookies from collecting users’ data, therefore, reducing online ads, and ultimately protecting users’ privacy. This paper challenges this by arguing that ITP’s functionality...

By K. Abdulghani on 09/24/17 Comments Off

AI Algorithm as Personal Style Tracker

Design specifically with a GAN, to overcome fast-fashion and overconsumption What will happen when designers can exactly produce what consumers want and need? The generative adversarial network (GAN) founded by online shopping company Amazon can actually do this by...

By Vera Seegers on 09/24/17 Comments Off

“Clue”: Are period tracking apps reinforcing gender norms?

About 9 months ago a close friend introduced me to ”Clue”, a mobile application she claimed to have changed her life. It is a menstrual cycle tracking app that allows you to follow your periods, ovulation and other aspects...

By Yarden Skop on 09/24/17 Comments Off

‘M’ Assistant – a New Territory For Advertising

‘M’ is an Artificial Intelligent virtual assistant inside Messenger which aims to be helpful to its users when appropriate. M Assistant analyzes their normal conversation on Messenger and pops up to suggest one of the features within the app...

By Gergana Ivanova on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Breaking the illusion of Control: “Home -1.0”

Introduction: Idea and Aim of the Project A recent innovation towards ultimate control is Apple’s “Home” app, which can command all smart devices in a house, from lamps to locks. But who gains power with this app? Is it...

By Michel Blonk on 10/21/16 Comments Off

Artificial Intelligence: an objective method for measuring beauty?

Last August, a team of biogerontologists and data scientists, organised the First International Beauty Contest Judged by Artificial Intelligence ever: Beauty.AI (Beauty.AI). With the support of major (tech)companies, like EY, NVidia and Microsoft, a team of scientist developed various...

By Pieter Vliegenthart on 09/22/16 Comments Off

Safety Net – Play With Privacy or It Will Play You

Have you ever used a website that uses cookies? “Liked” a photo on Facebook? Geo-tagged your location in a post or used Google Maps? Of course you have. But were you aware of how the information you...

By Deniz Gulsoken on 10/16/15 Comments Off

Spy me, please!

A project, brought to you by Afra Suci Ramadhon, Alina Niemann, Kimberly Leerkes, Kyra Teklu and Radina Teodosieva The exhibitionist beginning Several weeks ago we were presented with an assignment - to create a new media project, intervening an...

By Radina Teodosieva on 10/16/15 Comments Off

They tried to make me go to Talkspace I said, “no,no,no”.

Introducing Talkspace, the budding therapy app that claims to accommodate the ‘on demand’, ‘on the go’, ‘in the know’ culture. Therapy in the modern world. Ironically the need to be mindful has become an inevitable trend, digital...

By Kyra Teklu on 09/17/15 Comments Off

Spotify the Data Sage.

Is Discover Weekly a step forward or a step back? In the good ol’ days people discovered music by listening to the radio and recording the music on audio tapes. The disk jockeys were the opinion leaders that could...

By Daniël Landman on 09/15/15 Comments Off

Facebook’s new virtual assistant ‘M’: mastermind or menace?

Facebook recently introduced the world to ‘M’, its brand new virtual assistant that will reside in Facebook’s messaging app. Will, because for now, the new application is still in its test phase. Nonetheless, this rather unexpected move of Facebook...

By Lianne Kersten on 09/15/15 Comments Off

I need some Beer & Chips! Can you get me some? – The new way of personal assistance and how it impacts our society

On the 26th of August the Vice President of Messaging products at Facebook, David Marcus, announced on his personal Facebook Page that Facebook is beginning to test a new service within the Facebook Messenger called “M”. With that post...

By Katharina Lueke on 09/15/15 Comments Off

Artificial intelligence for everyone: indico.io

Image: Still from Amazon Machine Learning introduction video Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed alongside with computing since its earliest days. Today when thinking about AI the famous Kasparov beating chess computer Deep Blue, smartphone personal assistants like Siri or the...

By Clemens Buchegger on 09/14/15 Comments Off