Fake news posts and Twitter trolls were just the beginning. What will happen when misinformation moves from our social media feeds into our everyday lives?
Online disinformation stormed our political process in 2016 and has only worsened since. Yet as Samuel Woolley shows in this urgent book, it may pale in comparison to what's to come: humanlike automated voice systems, machine learning, "deepfake" AI-edited videos and images, interactive memes, virtual reality, and more. These technologies have the power not just to manipulate our politics, but to make us doubt our eyes and ears and even feelings.
Deeply researched and compellingly written, The Reality Game describes the profound impact these technologies will have on our lives. Each new invention built without regard for its consequences edges us further into this digital dystopia.
Yet Woolley does not despair. Instead, he argues pointedly for a new culture of innovation, one built around accountability and especially transparency. With social media dragging us into a never-ending culture war, we must learn to stop fighting and instead prevent future manipulation. This book shows how we can use our new tools not to control people but to empower them.
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Long before most of the world had ever heard the terms 'disinformation,' 'trolls,' 'bots,' or 'fake news,' Sam Woolley had begun to systematically study these new, destructive forces eroding democracy in the digital age. The Reality Game synthesizes his deep and original knowledge on this subject into a readable and compelling book. Scholars of computational propaganda, policymakers in Washington, Brussels, and the Silicon Valley, as well as all citizens of the world concerned about truth, facts, and democracy must read this book.—Michael McFaul, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and former US ambassador to Russia
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