Social Bots: Human-Like by Means of Human Control?

14 December 2017

Authors: Gillian Bolsover

Abstract: Social bots are currently regarded an influential but also somewhat mysterious factor in public discourse and opinion making. They are considered to be capable of massively distributing propaganda in ...
Read More Social Bots: Human-Like by Means of Human Control?

Japan’s 2014 General Election: Political Bots, Right-Wing Internet Activism, and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s Hidden Nationalist Agenda

14 December 2017

Authors: Gillian Bolsover

Abstract: In this article, we present results on the identification and behavioral analysis of social bots in a sample of 542,584 Tweets, collected before and after Japan’s 2014 general election. ...
Read More Japan’s 2014 General Election: Political Bots, Right-Wing Internet Activism, and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s Hidden Nationalist Agenda

Detecting Bots on Russian Political Twitter

14 December 2017

Authors: Gillian Bolsover

Abstract: Automated and semiautomated Twitter accounts, bots, have recently gained significant public attention due to their potential interference in the political realm. In this study, we develop a methodology for ...
Read More Detecting Bots on Russian Political Twitter

Never mind killer robots – even the good ones are scarily unpredictable

30 August 2017

Authors: Taha Yasseri

The heads of more than 100 of the world’s top artificial intelligence companies are very alarmed about the development of “killer robots”. In an open letter to the UN, ...
Read More Never mind killer robots – even the good ones are scarily unpredictable

Our knowledge of how automated agents interact is rather poor (and that could be a problem)

14 June 2017

Authors: Taha Yasseri

Wikipedia uses editing bots to clean articles: but what happens when their interactions go bad? Image of “Nomade”, a sculpture in downtown Des Moines by Jason Mrachina (Flickr ...
Read More Our knowledge of how automated agents interact is rather poor (and that could be a problem)

Using Twitter data to study politics? Fine, but be careful!

18 March 2017

Authors: Taha Yasseri

The role of social media in shaping the new politics is undeniable. Therefore the volume of research on this topic, relying on the data that are produced by the ...
Read More Using Twitter data to study politics? Fine, but be careful!

Even good bots fight and a typology of Internet bots

26 February 2017

Authors: Taha Yasseri

Our new paper titled “Even good bots fight: The case of Wikipedia” has finally appeared on PLOS One. There are two things that I particularly find worth-highlighting about this work. ...
Read More Even good bots fight and a typology of Internet bots

Pro #Brexit Twitter Bots (in German)

18 January 2017

Authors: Gillian Bolsover

Sind womöglich Maschinen schuld? Gemeint ist die britische Anti-EU Entscheidung von vergangenem Freitag. Vor der Abstimmung waren auffällig viele Pro-Brexit Stimmen in den sozialen Netzwerken zu finden, vor allem ...
Read More Pro #Brexit Twitter Bots (in German)

Fake News Bots

10 January 2017

Authors: Gillian Bolsover

Automated social media accounts known as ‘bots’ may be used to distort political perception online. We speak with research director Samuel Woolley of the Oxford Internet Institute’s Computational Propaganda ...
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Computer & Neue Medien (in German)

4 January 2017

Authors: Gillian Bolsover

1. Es postet die Maschine. Wenn TwitterBots Politik machen. 2. Häppchenweise. Über Micro-Learning und Fortbildung in kleinen Portionen. 3. Stuttgart oder Detroit? Das autonome Auto als Kampfplatz zwischen alten ...
Read More Computer & Neue Medien (in German)

These ‘bots’ could sway the Brexit vote

23 June 2016

Authors: Philip Howard

Automated social media accounts are being used by both sides in the Brexit debate, a new report shows, with some experts fearing that a sudden surge in activity by ...
Read More These ‘bots’ could sway the Brexit vote

How Twitter Bots Could Sway the Outcome of the Presidential Election

23 May 2016

Authors: Philip Howard

In the midst of the most unprecedented election season in recent history, questioning the political power of technology is now more important than ever. Over on Wired, Samuel Wooley ...
Read More How Twitter Bots Could Sway the Outcome of the Presidential Election

Presentation at Yale Law School

2 April 2016

Authors: Philip Howard

Project collaborators Phil Howard and Sam Woolley presented a coauthored paper, “Campaign Bots & The Law”, authored by Ryan Calo, Lisa Manheim, Sam Woolley and Phil Howard. It was ...
Read More Presentation at Yale Law School

We’re in a Bot Gold Rush. Kik tells you how to strike it rich.

9 March 2016

Authors: Philip Howard

Quinn Brenner was living a nightmare. Her mother passed away. She was rejected from drama school. Then, as she was leaving an audition, she was hit by a car. ...
Read More We’re in a Bot Gold Rush. Kik tells you how to strike it rich.

Les bots informatiques : énigmes légales dans un avenir rempli de robots

2 March 2016

Authors: Philip Howard

Selon Andrew Leonard, journaliste et auteur du livre Bots : The Origin of New Species, un bot est « un programme informatique autonome supposé intelligent, doué de personnalité, et ...
Read More Les bots informatiques : énigmes légales dans un avenir rempli de robots

Venezuela Ruling Party Leverages Twitter bots as Censorship Pushes Political Debate Online

5 August 2015

Authors: Sam Woolley

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s approval ratings may be languishing below 30 percent, but on Twitter he’s as popular as Pope Francis — or so it ...
Read More Venezuela Ruling Party Leverages Twitter bots as Censorship Pushes Political Debate Online

Tag: bots