DIGITAL INFLUENCE & PERCEPTIONSA NEW SPECIALIZATION AT THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS

The way people consume media has changed dramatically in recent years. Social media platforms are flooded with information including fake news (and deep fakes). This often makes it challenging for people to identify and decide between reliable information and misinformation, and to trust the system.

In today’s media landscape, many influence operations are carried out daily in the digital realm in various spheres including social, political, military, and public ones. In this reality, we must understand the complexity and develop tools to deal with this new situation, which is why the School of Communications has decided to open a new specialization - Digital Influence & Perceptions (DIP).

DIP students will learn and practice strategic communications and cross-platform content creation, conveying messages to diverse target audiences, and managing online communities, while identifying and understanding target audiences, various platforms, and the most effective way to create an impact. The students will gain practical experience in various projects while being mentored by leading figures from the industry, and get to see, in real-time, the impact it has on audiences.

This year, in addition to the courses and workshops, DIP+ was launched. It’s a series of extra curriculum activities with guest lectures and workshops, providing students with a rich understanding of the field and a glimpse behind-the-scenes from leading professionals in the industry.

During the first semester, the students had various guest lectures and activities such as N12 News journalist Adva Dadon’s talk about her investigative work in exposing scammers, an online session with Hollywood producer Shaked Berenson who shared insights about the film industry, a tour of i24 News studios, a writing workshop with journalist & leading columnist on Ynet Raanan Shaked, and many more.

One of the highlights of the semester was a mini hackathon conducted in collaboration with NoCamels, a leading news website covering Israeli innovation and technology. The mini hackathon asked students to pitch creative ideas in order to expand the reach and impact of NoCamels across the world, and gave them additional tools and practical experience in creating a strategy and presenting their idea. The winning group is already working with the NoCamels team on implementing their campaign, aiming to make a real impact.

/// MILAB

FOODTECH@ MILAB BA

The Media Innovation Lab (milab) of the Sammy Ofer School of Communications, is an academic research and prototyping lab that explores the future of media, technology, and human-computer interaction (HCI).

This year, milab challenged BA students to innovate and create digital and smart objects in the food tech domain. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated supply chain disruptions have sparked increased interest in food technology, leading to innovation in virtually every aspect of the food industry, including production, cooking, service, commerce, dining, and waste management.For this year’s project, they invited milab BA students to investigate the intersection of food, specifically eating, and technology. The students are working on developing innovative prototypes that address issues such as helping picky eaters to try new foods, helping a group of friends coordinate a dinner together, facilitating food preparation for parents and young children, and more.

DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE, UX HACKATHON FOR MILAB BA STUDENTS

The school’s BA interactive students participated in a fast-paced User Experience (UX) hackathon. This year, it was in collaboration with the Employment and Diversity Administration of the Ministry of Economy, and challenged students to create innovative products to promote inclusivity in the workplace. The students conducted research on the challenge and developed a variety of products within a short timeframe. The winning group created a smart chatbot that uses indirect questions to learn about an employee’s disability and serves as a tool for team leaders. The group that placed second developed an interface that connects to the National Insurance database, and offers job opportunities to employees based on their disabilities. The group that placed third designed a system for inclusive job interviews, in which an avatar reduces stereotypical thinking during the initial interview stage.

Ma Hci Thesis Paper On Bias In Robots

Social robots’ behaviors are often designed using AI algorithms trained on human behavioral data, which may result in robotic behaviors that reflect human biases and stereotypes. A recently accepted MA thesis led by Tom Hitron evaluates the effects of interacting with a biased robotic object on participants’ stereotypical thinking.

In the study, a robot with gender bias moderated debates between male and female participants. The results showed that participants who interacted with the robot that preferred men displayed more gender-related stereotypical thinking, while participants who interacted with a robot that did not hold a bias or preferred women, did not show this effect. These findings suggest that robot designers must be aware of AI algorithmic biases, as interactions with biased robots can reinforce implicit stereotypical thinking and perpetuate existing biases in society. On the other hand, counter-biased robotic behavior may be a useful tool in efforts to mitigate the impact of stereotypical thinking.

This thesis was conducted as part of the MA degree in HCI (Human Computer Interaction) of the School of Communications. A transformative degree, it provides students with the methodologies and skills required to lead user-centered products in technology companies, interactive experiences in design companies, and cutting-edge research in academic and industry innovation labs.

/// THE FUTURE (SHOCK) IS HERE

A mere month into the school year, the Sammy Ofer School of Communications lost one of its adjuncts, Mr. Yaron Aher, in a tragic motorcycle accident. Yaron was a lecturer loved by hundreds of students who studied with him over the years, and to honor him, the School held an academic panel in his honor on the topic of his professional expertise: Marketing & Digital Innovation.

The panel titled “Future Trends in Marketing” hosted several speakers who gave short TEDstyle talks followed by a panel discussion. Among the speakers was Dr. Tsahi Hayat, Head of the Marketing specialization at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications and current Vice Dean. Dr. Hayat’s research focuses on information diffusion in social networks, and he spoke on some of the key trends in the marketing field, and their potential effect on the future of the job market.

Another speaker, Mr. Yuval Hollander , is a leading digital marketer as well as lecturer and communications researcher. He spoke on the topic of neuromarketing and how emotions are the brain’s main operating system when it comes to decision making.

Mr. Hollander explained how one can easily influence and manipulate by understanding the brain’s structure and how it is essentially controlled by the various emotions from positive to negative. He further explained how ads can be tailor made and targeted for people with different personalities, thus maximizing their effect.

The third speaker, Mr. Nimrod Dweck, CEO at Beta (a Paramount-backed incubator), spoke about AI as the next big opportunity and the future of advertising and marketing. While discussing the various new artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL·E 2, and Stable Diffusion, Mr. Dweck gave a compelling example of one of the benefits. To prepare a campaign, there was the need for an image of an Israeli female soldier. Normally, it is impossible to use a real Israeli soldier for legal reasons. The only option until now has been to have a model portray one, accompanied by a disclaimer. With Midjourney (an artificial intelligence program that creates images from textual descriptions, similar to OpenAI’s DALL·E and Stable Diffusion.), the agency created a fictional image of an Israeli female soldier – with no legal ramifications or need for disclaimers.

The fourth and final speaker was Ms. Liron TamirLevy, General Manager of Humanz, who introduced the company: a burgeoning influencer AI marketing platform designed for e-commerce and creators, providing them with next generation analytics.

In layman’s terms, it helps business analyze and identify the right and best influencer for their business, as well as to quantify the benefit of working with that influencer. At the same time, Humanz also assists the creators themselves to connect with brands, discover campaigns, and earn income as well as access insights about their own social media accounts to help make them more attractive to brands.