Academics / Courses / DescriptionsCOMP_SCI 396, 496: Misinformation and Disinformation in the Age of AI
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Prerequisites
CS seniors and CS grad students onlyDescription
Exponential improvements in technology, together with the upcoming 2024 federal elections, set the stage for artificial intelligence-powered content to sow mistrust and chaos in our society. This course will explore the intersection of new computing technologies and the critical role of news media, journalism, and information in a functioning democracy. Students will understand how mis- and disinformation are created and disseminated in our digital age, through an interdisciplinary lens aiming to bring together the perspectives of journalism, mass communication, technology, and psychology. We will examine and analyze the effects of false information on public opinion, and the methods (technological and otherwise) through which it is created and promulgated, through a combination of lectures, readings, and discussion. Fundamentally interdisciplinary, this course will approach these critical issues from multiple perspectives. The course aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to understand the complex landscape of information in the digital era, and to help identify technological, social, educational, and legal mechanisms for addressing our current challenges.
- This course fulfills the CS Technical Elective requirement.
- This course cross-list with JOUR 390-27/JOUR 490-28.
REFERENCE TEXTBOOKS: N/A
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK: N/A
COURSE COORDINATORS: Prof. Larry Birnbaum
COURSE INSTRUCTOR : Prof. Larry Birnbaum & Jeremy D Gilbert