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	<title>Civic Studies &#187; Internet and public issues</title>
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	<link>http://civicstudies.org</link>
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		<title>can AI help governments and corporations identify political opponents?</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30332</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30332#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Oct 2023 16:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[epistemic networks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30332</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In &#8220;Large Language Model Soft Ideologization via AI-Self-Consciousness,&#8221; Xiaotian Zhou, Qian Wang, Xiaofeng Wang, Haixu Tang, and Xiaozhong Liu use ChatGPT to identify the signature of &#8220;three distinct and influential ideologies: &#8220;&#8217;Trumplism&#8217; (entwined with US politics), &#8216;BLM (Black Lives Matter)&#8217; (a prominent social movement), and &#8216;China-US harmonious co-existence is of great significance&#8217; (propaganda from the [&#8230;] <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30332">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2023/10/04/can-ai-help-governments-and-corporations-identify-political-opponents/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>the age of cybernetics</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30072</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30072#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Aug 2023 15:43:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philosophy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30072</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[During WWII entities that seemed analogous to human brains were invented: the first computers, radar, etc. Related new ideas included artificial neurons (1943), feedback (1943), game theory (1944), stored-program computers (1946), information theory (1948), systems engineering (1940s), etc. In the 1940s, cybernetics emerged as the study of how any person, other animals, a machine, or a society attempts to direct itself while receiving feedback. This post is about the rise, decline, and renewal of cybernetics. <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30072">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2023/08/28/the-age-of-cybernetics/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>what I would advise students about ChatGPT</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=29983</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=29983#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Aug 2023 19:37:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[academia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peterlevine.ws/?p=29983</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;d like to be able to advise students who are interested in learning but are not sure whether or how to use ChatGPT. I realize there may also be students who want to use AI tools to save effort, even if they learn less as a result. I don&#8217;t yet know how to address that [&#8230;] <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=29983">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2023/08/14/what-i-would-advise-students-about-chatgpt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>trying Mastodon</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=27748</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=27748#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2022 17:12:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peterlevine.ws/?p=27748</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As of today, I am @peterlevine@mastodon.sdf.org on the decentralized Mastodon network (https://mastodon.social/). I would report good experiences with Twitter (as @peterlevine). I never attract enough attention there to be targeted by malicious or mean users. I don&#8217;t see fake news. (Of course, everyone thinks that&#8217;s true of themselves; maybe I&#8217;m naive.) I do enjoy following [&#8230;] <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=27748">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2022/11/01/trying-mastodon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>dealing with the big tech platforms</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=23920</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=23920#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2021 15:09:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peterlevine.ws/?p=23920</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We can hold several ideas in our minds, even though they&#8217;re in tension, and try to work through to a better solution. One one hand &#8230; Any platform for discussion and communication needs rules. It won&#8217;t work if it&#8217;s wide open. A privately owned platform is free to make up its own rules, and even [&#8230;] <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=23920">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Rewiring Democracy</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=21356</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=21356#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2019 19:21:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peterlevine.ws/?p=21356</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Matt Leighninger and Quixada Moore-Vissing have published &#8220;Rewiring Democracy: Subconscious Technologies, Conscious Engagement, and the Future of Politics&#8221; (Public Agenda 2018). I would pick out this major contrast from the complex document of 68 pages. On one hand, technologies are &#8230; <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=21356">Continue reading <span>&#8594;</span></a>
 <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=21356">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2019/05/08/rewiring-democracy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Defending the Truth: An Activist’s Guide to Fighting Foreign Disinformation Warfare</title>
		<link>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=20681</link>
		<comments>https://peterlevine.ws/?p=20681#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Dec 2018 20:34:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peterlevine.ws/?p=20681</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(Dayton, OH) I recommend&#160;Maciej Bartkowski&#8217;s&#160;Defending the Truth: An Activist&#8217;s Guide to Fighting Foreign Disinformation Warfare&#160;from the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict. It&#8217;s free, concise, practical, and inspiring. Some examples of advice: Establish local networks that can be rapidly activated to &#8230; <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=20681">Continue reading <span>&#8594;</span></a>
 <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=20681">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2018/12/06/defending-the-truth-an-activists-guide-to-fighting-foreign-disinformation-warfare/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>why didn’t the internet save democracy?</title>
		<link>http://peterlevine.ws/?p=20051</link>
		<comments>http://peterlevine.ws/?p=20051#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jun 2018 18:11:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peterlevine.ws/?p=20051</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I don&#8217;t always like this format, but Dylan Matthews&#8217; short interviews with Clay Shirky, Jeff Jarvis, David Weinberger, and Alec Ross add up to a useful overview of the question that Matthews poses to all four: &#8220;The internet was supposed &#8230; <a href="http://peterlevine.ws/?p=20051">Continue reading <span>&#8594;</span></a>
 <a href="http://peterlevine.ws/?p=20051">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2018/06/08/why-didnt-the-internet-save-democracy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>the online world looks dark</title>
		<link>http://peterlevine.ws/?p=19172</link>
		<comments>http://peterlevine.ws/?p=19172#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Oct 2017 22:56:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peterlevine.ws/?p=19172</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(Chicago) I&#8217;m at the #ObamaSummit, much of which can be followed online. In the opening plenary, several speakers (including President Obama) noted the drawbacks of social media: psychological isolation, manipulation by powerful companies and governments, fake news, balkanization, and deep &#8230; <a href="http://peterlevine.ws/?p=19172">Continue reading <span>&#8594;</span></a>
 <a href="http://peterlevine.ws/?p=19172">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2017/10/31/the-online-world-looks-dark/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>democracy in the digital age</title>
		<link>http://peterlevine.ws/?p=17490</link>
		<comments>http://peterlevine.ws/?p=17490#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2016 15:14:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[civic theory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet and public issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://peterlevine.ws/?p=17490</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[New chapter: &#8220;Democracy in the Digital Age,&#8221; The Civic Media Reader, edited by Eric Gordon and Paul Mihailidis (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016), pp. 29-47 Abstract:&#160;Digital media change rapidly, but democracy presents perennial challenges. It is not in people&#8217;s individual &#8230; <a href="http://peterlevine.ws/?p=17490">Continue reading <span>&#8594;</span></a>
 <a href="http://peterlevine.ws/?p=17490">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://civicstudies.org/2016/10/13/democracy-in-the-digital-age/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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