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

On the Possibility of Preserved Privacy: The Case of Google Photos

Today we live in a hyper-connected world with constant online activity. This lends itself to the accumulation of unprecedented data of and about people, dubbed “Big Data”. Google is a key part of this ecosystem and Google Photos is...

By on 10/05/21 Comments Off

Fawkes: “Cloaking” Your Photos to Elude Facial Recognition Systems

For too long we have lived under the fear brought by the deepfake. In that case, it’s time for us to meet the photo-editing tool, Fawkes. Since the deepfake is generally based on images, Fawkes can fool the AI...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

The Liar’s Dividend: dismissing reality as fake

From face swapping applications to uncanny videos of politicians, everybody has, knowingly or unknowingly, seen a fake video. They are ubiquitous and they are becoming increasingly more realistic, which makes them harder to identify as ‘fake’. This poses a...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

A bridge between worlds – Robots as a physical platform for the digital

Robots – gimmick or game changer? The current picture one has, when the words “robot” or “robotics” are dropped, can vary widely. While most would probably imagine either Science-fiction-like, humanoid beings or simplistic and gimmicky robots that are commercially...

By on 09/23/19 Comments Off

ImageNet Roulette: This mean Sorting Hat is not magic, it’s how AI works

ImageNet Roulette is not just another selfie app. It shows us why it is deeply problematic to classify people through “AI” systems. The debate around ImageNet Roulette is urgently needed: Around the globe, machine learning systems are popping up...

By on 09/23/19 Comments Off

Neuralink – Are Brain-Computer Interfaces leading us into a technological utopia?

Elon Musk did it again. In July 2019, the Tesla and SpaceX founder held a detailed presentation about his newest project called “Neuralink”. This startup has been developing a system that allows linking human brains directly to computers with...

By Joana Stockmeyer on 09/22/19 Comments Off

The Worrisome Biometrics: Deepfakes, ZAO and Privacy Issue

In early September, a face-swapping app called ZAO attracted universal attention in China. Using the technology of “Deepfakes”, it allows users to swap their faces into famous characters’ in the film and TV show clips. ZAO prevailed like the...

By on 09/22/19 Comments Off

How to be thoughtful without thinking, new app promises stronger relationships

The latest trend for the digitally immersed is having an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant app teach how to be a more thoughtful human. ‘Monaru’ is a start-up app that intends to overcome the disconnection that has resulted from constant...

By on 09/22/19 Comments Off

The wisdom of Wysa – Mental health apps, the (AI) friend who is always there

Introduction Ever felt lonely depressed or anxious at four AM and didn’t feel like you had anyone to talk to? Mental health issues are a daily struggle for many people. In recent years people have started coming forward and...

By Annabel on 09/22/19 Comments Off

Will Elli.Q be on your Wishlist? Artificial Intelligence within Elderly Care, a Closer Look

As we’re zeroing in on October 1st, the International Day of Older Persons, it’s high time we turn the spotlight to our expeditiously ageing world. While healthcare professionals are tasked with overcoming staff shortages and budget cuts, new...

By Aikaterini Mniestri on 09/24/18 Comments Off

– Great song, who’s that? – AI.

“Music that listens to you” (AI music) ‚ “We’re developing musical artificial intelligence to build tools for creative people” (Jukedeck). „AI music composer – create the prefect soundtrack for your VR game” (Amper). These are different start-ups’ slogans, but...

By Maria Swierblewska on 09/24/18 Comments Off

Reading News From Knowhere in the Post-Truth World

Misinformation is one of the global risks outlined by the World Economic Forum in their Global Risks 2013 report. The world is grappling with the viral spread of unvetted information in a hyperconnected world. News media are implicated in...

By Darsana Vijay on 09/23/18 Comments Off

CareAI: A Solution for African Healthcare?

The concept of artificial intelligence as we know it today first appeared in 1956, however, it was Leonardo Da Vinci who initially set the stage for the development of this field with his sketches of Robots (Hamet and Tremblay). Since...

By Anja Duricic on 09/23/18 Comments Off

The iPhone nudge and the choice to budge

Every time you reach into your pocket for your iPhone (sorry to exclude non-iPhone users) you’re prompted with a security code, unless this feature has been disabled. Your options are entering a 4 to 6 numerical code or...

By Phil Creamer on 09/25/17 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

Recognition: looking through a mediated lens

“Can a machine make us look afresh at great art through the lens of today’s world?” (Tate). This is a question art institution Tate Britain poses about their online program Recognition, launched two weeks ago. This program uses Artificial Intelligence (AI)...

By Rianne Riemens on 09/21/16 Comments Off

Prisma: The Photo App With Its Own Charisma!

All the Instagram addicts must have already tried out or, at least, come across with artsy photos badged with the #prisma hashtag. For those of you who (strangely enough) haven’t seen or heard of it before, Prisma is...

By Christina Panteli on 09/19/16 Comments Off

AI: is it just buzz or is it really changing the web design world?

“A.I. Websites. Build for Humans.” It has been quite a while since the non-stop futuristic flashy banners began showing up on my browser. The Grid is an AI web-builder that will build a website for you in a couple...

By Izumi Otsuka on 09/16/15 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

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

Hey Siri, do you spy on me?

Hey Siri, a feature which comes along with the new Iphone 6S has caused quite a stir when it became known that Siri (Apples Artificial Intelligence integration) could be activated on command by just calling “Hey Siri” to your device. This functionality...

By Rosa Boon on 09/14/15 Comments Off

New ROBOTICS: The Genesis of Artificial Creativity?

1942. Isaac Asimov writes “Runaround”, in which he promulgates the Three Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the...

By Nikos Roumeliotis on 09/17/14 1

Genes, Memes and Temes: Paradoxes in Meme-Theory and the Dangers of Memes

In March 2012 the animated sitcom South Park aired an episode featuring the potential dangers of memes. Its message: it is impossible to keep up with the latest memes and those who choose to imitate certain memes in public...

By Stijn Wonderen van on 09/11/12 Comments Off

The Chinese Room

Friday, 17 september, in Hague’s Korzo5HOOG theater, I, with companion, got immersed in the phantasies of dancer and choreographer Kenneth Flak. Inspired on the thinking experiment ‘The Chinese Room’ placed in the context of the notions of William Gibson’s...

By Xander Stolwijk on 09/24/10 1