Elizabeth Dubois on Political Bots: Understanding Communication Strategies Using Automation and AI [video]

Elizabeth Dubois, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, delivered the lecture, “Political bots: Understanding communication strategies using automation and AI,” on February 1 by Zoom. The talk is now available for viewing here.

Dubois runs the Pol Comm Tech Lab at the University of Ottawa. Her work examines political uses of digital media including media manipulation, citizen engagement, and artificial intelligence. She hosts the Wonks and War Rooms podcast where political communication theory meets on the ground strategy. Find her on Twitter @lizdubois, at the Pol Comm Tech Lab at the University of Ottawa or check out her latest edited book, Citizenship in a Connected Canada.

This winter, the Atlantic Human Rights Centre, St. Thomas University’s Department of Human Rights, St. Thomas University’s Department of Journalism and Communications, the NB Media Co-op and RAVEN invite the public to the Human Rights & the Media Lecture Series. We will hear from scholars of the media and law, media makers and grassroots activists on how our media landscape is changing. We will hear about what they are doing to make this media landscape a more safe, just and equal space.

Upcoming lectures

Register for the Zoom link here.

February 8 – Erin Steuter, Professor of Sociology, Mount Allison University, on Won’t Get Fooled Again: A Graphic Guide to Fake News.

February 10 – Aditya Rao, a human rights lawyer, on Hate Speech and Human Rights in Canada: The Fight Over Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

February 15 – Hilary Young, Professor of Law at the University of New Brunswick, on Civil Recourse for Non-Consensual Disclosure of Intimate Images.

February 22 – Laura O’Brien, UN Advocacy Officer for Access Now, on Defending Peaceful Assembly and Association in the Digital Age: Takedowns, Shutdowns, and Surveillance.

March 17 – Fenwick McKelvey, Assistant Professor in Information and Communication Technology Policy in the Department of Communication Studies, on how AI is shaping our lives and communications.

March 31 – Siti Maimunah, a rapporteur for the People’s Tribunal at COP26 in Glasgow and member of the COP26 Coalition, on telling the stories of people of the Global South affected by climate change.

April 12 – Kaitlyn Layden, a disability rights advocate, on engaging the media to advance the rights of people with disabilities.

For more information, contact Tracy Glynn at tglynn@stu.ca.