Samuel Woolley on Bots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Propaganda

03/28/23 • 43 min

One of the things that we see happening online is sort of a democratization of propaganda.
Samuel Woolley
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Samuel Woolley is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and the project director for propaganda research at the Center for Media Engagement. His most recent book is Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Era of Automation and Anonymity.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:43
Background on Technology (including Bots) - 3:00
Artificial Intelligence - 10:17
Democratization of Propaganda - 20:44
The Legitimation of Ideas - 30:48

Key Links
Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Era of Automation and Anonymity by Samuel Woolley
"Digital Propaganda: The Power of Influencers" in the Journal of Democracy by Samuel Woolley
Center for Media Engagement
Democracy Paradox Podcast
Richard Wike Asked Citizens in 19 Countries Whether Social Media is Good for Democracy
Ronald Deibert from Citizen Lab on Cyber Surveillance, Digital Subversion, and Transnational Repression
More Episodes from the Podcast
More Information
Democracy Group
Apes of the State created all Music
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Follow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast
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Democracy Paradox is part of the Amazon Affiliates Program and earns commissions on items purchased from links to the Amazon website. All links are to recommended books discussed in the podcast or referenced in the blog.

Learn more about the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at https://kellogg.nd.edu/

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Introduction - 0:43
Background on Technology (including Bots) - 3:00
Artificial Intelligence - 10:17
Democratization of Propaganda - 20:44
The Legitimation of Ideas - 30:48

Learn more about the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at https://kellogg.nd.edu/

Support the show

Previous Episode

Josh Chin on China's Surveillance State

It's hard to believe what was happening in Xinjiang and most Chinese people didn't believe, but now they do. A lot of them do.
Josh Chin
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Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Josh Chin is the Deputy Bureau Chief for China at the Wall Street Journal and the coauthor with Liza Lin of the book Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:38
Describing Xinjiang - 2:38
Social Engineering - 11:21
Privacy in China - 19:08
AI in China - 28:23

Key Links
Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control by Josh Chin and Liza Lin
Read more from Josh Chin in the Wall Street Journal"The Mandarin in the Machine" A review of Surveillance State in Journal of Democracy by Will Dobson
Democracy Paradox Podcast
Elizabeth Economy in a Wide Ranging Conversation About China
Aynne Kokas on the Intersection Between Surveillance Capitalism and Chinese Sharp Power (or How Much Does the CCP Already Know About You?)
More Episodes from the Podcast
More Information
Democracy Group
Apes of the State created all Music
Email the show at [email protected]
Follow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast
100 Books on Democracy
Democracy Paradox is part of the Amazon Affiliates Program and earns commissions on items purchased from links to the Amazon website. All links are to recommended books discussed in the podcast or referenced in the blog.

Learn more about the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at https://kellogg.nd.edu/

Support the show

Next Episode

Larry Bartels Says Democracy Erodes from the Top

Democracy is a much more complicated thing than we often give it credit for and certainly speaking dichotomously about democracy being in crisis or not is an oversimplification.

Larry Bartels
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Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Larry Bartels is the May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University and a Co-Director for the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. His new book is called Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:34
A Crisis of Democracy? 3:02
Populism 23:20
Political Restraint - 37:49
What is Democracy? 44:51

Key Links

Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe by Larry Bartels
Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government by Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels
Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions

Democracy Paradox Podcast
Martin Wolf on the Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
Jason Brownlee Believes We Underestimate Democratic Resilience
More Episodes from the Podcast

More Information
Democracy Group
Apes of the State created all Music
Email the show at [email protected]
Follow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast
100 Books on Democracy
Democracy Paradox is part of the Amazon Affiliates Program and earns commissions on items purchased from links to the Amazon website. All links are to recommended books discussed in the podcast or referenced in the blog.

Learn more about the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at https://kellogg.nd.edu/

Support the show

Democracy Paradox - Samuel Woolley on Bots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Propaganda

Transcript

Democracy depends on space for contentious discussion and debate. This is what made the internet and social media seem as though it was such a perfect complement for democratic politics. Unfortunately, the very attributes that elevated new political voices also included more nefarious actors including propagandists.

Samuel Woolley has studied propaganda in the digital age. Sam has found digital propaganda shares a lot with older more traditional forms of propaganda, but it also has some