Media Literacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Friday, April 12, 2024
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts 1300 Q St, Lincoln, NE (See Map)
All are welcome to attend this symposium that brings together researchers, teachers, students, and community members to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence in a fast-paced media world.
Symposium Program
Time | Topics | Speakers |
| 9 - 9:15 a.m. | Opening Remarks | Shari Veil, Jane T. Olson Endowed Dean and Professor, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, UNL Megan Elliott, Johnny Carson Endowed Director in Emerging Medis Arts, UNL |
| 9:15 - 10 a.m. | Digital Platforms, Algorithms and the Future of News Consumption | Kjerstin Thorson, Brandt Endowed Professor of Political Communication and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, Department of Advertising + Public Relations, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University |
| 10 - 10:15 a.m. | Break (Snack Time) | None |
| 10:15 - 11 a.m. | Misinformation was Already Challenging — Then Came Generative AI | Jevin D. West, Associate Professor, Information School, Co-Founder and Inaugural Director of the Center for an Informed Public, University of Washington |
| 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | Lunch break (lunch will be provided to all participants) and AI & Filmmaking Hackathon Showcase | None |
| 12:15 - 1 p.m. | From Photoshop to Midjourney: Building Resilience Against Visual Misinformation | Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, Professor and Co-Director of the Computational Communication Research Lab, Department of Communication, University of California, Davis |
| 1 - 1:15 p.m. | Break (Snack Time) | None |
| 1:15 - 2 p.m. | Media and AI Literacy Research and Policy in Nebraska | Robert Twomey, Assistant Professor, Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts Justin Olmanson, Associate Professor, Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, College of Education and Human Sciences Guy Trainin, Professor, Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, College of Education and Human Sciences Nancy Petitto, Civic Nebraska |
| 2 - 2:15 p.m. | Break (Snack Time) | None |
| 2:15 - 2:45 p.m. | Breakout Sessions on (1) Social and Ethical Impact of AI, (2) Media Literacy, and (3) Transformative Value of AI in Education | Participants go to one of three breakout session rooms in the building: (1) Social and Ethical Impact of AI (CEMA 215), (2) Media Literacy (CEMA 205), and (3) Transformative Value of AI in Education (CEMA 247). |
| 2:45 - 3 p.m. | Closing Remarks | UNL Grand Challenges Planning Grant Team on "Media and Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms" Ming (Bryan) Wang, associate professor, advertising and public relations, College of Journalism & Mass Communications, UNL Erica DeFrain, associate professor, University Libraries, UNL Robert Twomey, assistant professor, Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, UNL Heather Akin, assistant professor, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, UNL Leen-Kiat Soh, Charles Bessey Professor, School of Computing, College of Engineering, UNL Maria Marron, professor, journalism, College of Journalism & Mass Communications, UNL |
Symposium Speakers
Digital Platforms, Algorithms and the Future of News Consumption
Kjerstin Thorson, Ph.D., is Brandt Endowed Professor and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University. Thorson is an internationally recognized political communication scholar. Her research examines digital platforms and their impact on our civic lives. Her work appears in leading journals, including Journal of Communication, New Media & Society, and Communication Theory. Thorson’s recent scholarship has been supported by the NSF and the Social Science Research Council. Thorson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Misinformation was Already Challenging -- Then Came Generative AI
Jevin West is currently a visiting associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Information, and an Associate Professor in the Information School at the University of Washington (UW). He is the co-founder and the inaugural director of Center for an Informed Public at UW, aimed at resisting strategic misinformation, promoting an informed society and strengthening democratic discourse. His research and teaching focus on the impact of data and technology on science, with a focus on slowing the spread of misinformation. He is the co-author of the book, "Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World," which helps non-experts question numbers, data, and statistics without an advanced degree in data science.
From Photoshop to Midjourney: Building Resilience Against Visual Misinformation
Cuihua (Cindy) Shen is a professor of communication at UC Davis and the co-director of the Computational Communication Research lab. Her recent research focuses on computational social science and multimodal (mis)information in AI-mediated environments. She is the past chair of the Computational Methods Division of the International Communication Association, and the founding associate editor of the journal Computational Communication Research, as well as the associate editor of Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Facebook. She is a recipient of numerous top paper awards from ICA as well as a Fulbright US Scholar Award.