[Commlist] New book: A History of Fake Things on the Internet

We would like to announce a new publication from Stanford University 
Press, which we hope will be of interest.

*A History of Fake Things on the Internet*

*Walter Scheirer*

*_https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781503632882/a-history-of-fake-things-on-the-internet/ 
<https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781503632882/a-history-of-fake-things-on-the-internet/>_*

**

*Receive a 20% discount online*:*

*LLF23*

*Valid until 11:59 GMT, 30^th June 2024.Discount only applies to the CAP 
website.

**

"By historicizing fakeness online, Walter J. Scheirer helps readers 
understand the very real consequences, contexts, and stakes of digital 
participation. A fascinating study of creativity in all its forms—one 
that resists binary proclamations about what is good and creative and 
what is bad and destructive. Instead, the book says yes in many 
directions."—Whitney Phillips, coauthor of/You Are Here: A Field Guide 
for Navigating Polarized Speech, Conspiracy Theories, and Our Polluted 
Media Landscape/

"In this captivating book, Walter J. Scheirer artfully combines the 
skills of a cultural critic, historian, and computer scientist to 
explore the many facets of technological duplicity. Going beyond 
cliches, the book delves into an array of historical and contemporary 
cases involving computer hackers, digital artists, media forensics 
specialists, and AI researchers. By doing so, he unveils how exactly 
emergent media becomes the basis for myths, falsehoods, and trickery, 
and with what consequences."—Gabriella Coleman, author of/Hacker, 
Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous/

As all aspects of our social and informational lives increasingly 
migrate online, the line between what is "real" and what is digitally 
fabricated grows ever thinner—and that fake content has undeniable 
real-world consequences/. A History of Fake Things on the Internet/takes 
the long view of how advances in technology brought us to the point 
where faked texts, images, and video content are nearly 
indistinguishable from what is authentic or true.

Computer scientist Walter J. Scheirer takes a deep dive into the origins 
of fake news, conspiracy theories, reports of the paranormal, and other 
deviations from reality that have become part of mainstream culture, 
from image manipulation in the nineteenth-century darkroom to the 
literary stylings of large language models like ChatGPT. Scheirer 
investigates the origins of Internet fakes, from early hoaxes that 
traversed the globe via Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), USENET, and a new 
messaging technology called email, to today's hyperrealistic, 
AI-generated Deepfakes. An expert in machine learning and recognition, 
Scheirer breaks down the technical advances that made new developments 
in digital deception possible, and shares behind-the-screens details of 
early Internet-era pranks that have become touchstones of hacker lore. 
His story introduces us to the visionaries and mischief-makers who first 
deployed digital fakery and continue to influence how digital 
manipulation works—and doesn't—today: computer hackers, digital artists, 
media forensics specialists, and AI researchers. Ultimately, Scheirer 
argues that problems associated with fake content are not intrinsic 
properties of the content itself, but rather stem from human behavior, 
demonstrating our capacity for both creativity and destruction.

Walter J. Scheirer is the Dennis O. Doughty Collegiate Associate 
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre 
Dame.


*Stanford University Press| December 2023 | 264pp | 9781503632882 | HB | 
£23.99**

*Price subject to change.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------