Andrew McStay – författare

This is an open access title. It is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International license. It is available to read and download as a PDF version on the Oxford Academic platform.We live in a world where artificial intelligence and intensive use of personal data has become normalized. Companies across the world are developing and launching technologies to infer and interact with emotions, mental states, and human conditions. However, the methods and means of mediating information about people and their emotional states are incomplete and problematic. Automating Empathy offers a critical exploration of technologies that sense intimate dimensions of human life and the modern ethical questions raised by attempts to perform and simulate empathy. It traces the ascendance of empathic technologies from their origins in physiognomy and pathognomy to the modern day and explores technologies in nations with non-Western ethical histories and approaches to emotion, such as Japan. The book examines applications of empathic technologies across sectors such as education, policing, and transportation, and considers key questions of everyday use such as the integration of human-state sensing in mixed reality, the use of neurotechnologies, and the moral limits of using data gleaned through automated empathy. Ultimately, Automating Empathy outlines the key principles necessary to usher in a future where automated empathy can serve and do good.Drawing insights across ethics, philosophy, and policy, Automating Empathy argues for a pluralistic reconceptualization of empathic technologies to better reflect the intimate dimensions of human life.

This is an open access title. It is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International license. It is available to read and download as a PDF version on the Oxford Academic platform.We live in a world where artificial intelligence and intensive use of personal data has become normalized. Companies across the world are developing and launching technologies to infer and interact with emotions, mental states, and human conditions. However, the methods and means of mediating information about people and their emotional states are incomplete and problematic. Automating Empathy offers a critical exploration of technologies that sense intimate dimensions of human life and the modern ethical questions raised by attempts to perform and simulate empathy. It traces the ascendance of empathic technologies from their origins in physiognomy and pathognomy to the modern day and explores technologies in nations with non-Western ethical histories and approaches to emotion, such as Japan. The book examines applications of empathic technologies across sectors such as education, policing, and transportation, and considers key questions of everyday use such as the integration of human-state sensing in mixed reality, the use of neurotechnologies, and the moral limits of using data gleaned through automated empathy. Ultimately, Automating Empathy outlines the key principles necessary to usher in a future where automated empathy can serve and do good.Drawing insights across ethics, philosophy, and policy, Automating Empathy argues for a pluralistic reconceptualization of empathic technologies to better reflect the intimate dimensions of human life.

Creativity and Advertising develops novel ways to theorise advertising and creativity. Arguing that combinatory accounts of advertising based on representation, textualism and reductionism are of limited value, Andrew McStay suggests that advertising and creativity are better recognised in terms of the ‘event’. Drawing on a diverse set of philosophical influences including Scotus, Spinoza, Vico, Kant, Schiller, James, Dewey, Schopenhauer, Whitehead, Bataille, Heidegger and Deleuze, the book posits a sensational, process-based, transgressive, lived and embodied approach to thinking about media, aesthetics, creativity and our interaction with advertising. Elaborating an affective account of creativity, McStay assesses creative advertising from Coke, Evian, Google, Sony, Uniqlo and Volkswagen among others, and articulates the ways in which award-winning creative advertising may increasingly be read in terms of co-production, playfulness, ecological conceptions of media, improvisation, and immersion in fields and processes of corporeal affect.Philosophically wide-ranging yet grounded in robust understanding of industry practices, the book will also be of use to scholars with an interest in aesthetics, art, design, media, performance, philosophy and those with a general interest in creativity.Andrew McStay lectures at Bangor University and is author of Digital Advertising, and The Mood of Information: A Critique of Online Behavioural Advertising and Deconstructing Privacy, the latter forthcoming in 2014.

Creativity and Advertising develops novel ways to theorise advertising and creativity. Arguing that combinatory accounts of advertising based on representation, textualism and reductionism are of limited value, Andrew McStay suggests that advertising and creativity are better recognised in terms of the ‘event’. Drawing on a diverse set of philosophical influences including Scotus, Spinoza, Vico, Kant, Schiller, James, Dewey, Schopenhauer, Whitehead, Bataille, Heidegger and Deleuze, the book posits a sensational, process-based, transgressive, lived and embodied approach to thinking about media, aesthetics, creativity and our interaction with advertising. Elaborating an affective account of creativity, McStay assesses creative advertising from Coke, Evian, Google, Sony, Uniqlo and Volkswagen among others, and articulates the ways in which award-winning creative advertising may increasingly be read in terms of co-production, playfulness, ecological conceptions of media, improvisation, and immersion in fields and processes of corporeal affect.Philosophically wide-ranging yet grounded in robust understanding of industry practices, the book will also be of use to scholars with an interest in aesthetics, art, design, media, performance, philosophy and those with a general interest in creativity.Andrew McStay lectures at Bangor University and is author of Digital Advertising, and The Mood of Information: A Critique of Online Behavioural Advertising and Deconstructing Privacy, the latter forthcoming in 2014.

This core textbook addresses structural change in the advertising industry, its legal and political environment, and the ways in which people engage with advertising. Providing an assessment of the contemporary and emergent advertising techniques that drive the world’s largest media companies, this second edition charts the scope of recent change at both analytical and creative levels. Accounting for a re-shaped advertising industry, this key text introduces the reader both to the practical make-up of digital advertising, and the theory needed to understand its history and future direction.Succinct and accessible, this is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in advertising, media studies, communications and marketing. This timely and engaging book is also an essential resource for academics and anyone interested in advertising and what funds modern media.New to this Edition:- Fully updated to account for the re-shaped advertising industry and transformed media landscape since the publication of the first edition- Added coverage of topics including: the creative uses of technology, novel modes of storytelling, adblocking, the pre-eminence of analytics and big data, privacy, growing interest in data about emotional life, and alarm about the role of artificial intelligence and automation in advertising- Increased number of case studies and analyses of campaigns

This core textbook addresses structural change in the advertising industry, its legal and political environment, and the ways in which people engage with advertising. Providing an assessment of the contemporary and emergent advertising techniques that drive the world’s largest media companies, this second edition charts the scope of recent change at both analytical and creative levels. Accounting for a re-shaped advertising industry, this key text introduces the reader both to the practical make-up of digital advertising, and the theory needed to understand its history and future direction.Succinct and accessible, this is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in advertising, media studies, communications and marketing. This timely and engaging book is also an essential resource for academics and anyone interested in advertising and what funds modern media.New to this Edition:- Fully updated to account for the re-shaped advertising industry and transformed media landscape since the publication of the first edition- Added coverage of topics including: the creative uses of technology, novel modes of storytelling, adblocking, the pre-eminence of analytics and big data, privacy, growing interest in data about emotional life, and alarm about the role of artificial intelligence and automation in advertising- Increased number of case studies and analyses of campaigns

What can philosophy tell us about privacy? Quite a lot as it turns out. With Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol Andrew McStay draws on an array of philosophers to offer a refreshingly novel approach to privacy matters. Against the backdrop and scrutiny of Arendt, Aristotle, Bentham, Brentano, Deleuze, Engels, Heidegger, Hume, Husserl, James, Kant, Latour, Locke, Marx, Mill, Plato, Rorty, Ryle, Sartre, Skinner, Spinoza, Whitehead and Wittgenstein, among others, McStay advances a wealth of new ideas and terminology, from affective breaches to zombie media. Theorizing privacy as an affective principle of interaction between human and non-human actors, McStay progresses to make unique arguments on transparency, the publicness of subjectivity, our contemporary techno-social condition and the nature of empathic media in an age of intentional machines. Reconstructing our most basic assumptions about privacy, this book is a must-read for theoreticians, empirical analysts, students, those contributing to policy and anyone interested in the steering philosophical ideas that inform their own orientation and thinking about privacy.

What can philosophy tell us about privacy? Quite a lot as it turns out. With Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol Andrew McStay draws on an array of philosophers to offer a refreshingly novel approach to privacy matters. Against the backdrop and scrutiny of Arendt, Aristotle, Bentham, Brentano, Deleuze, Engels, Heidegger, Hume, Husserl, James, Kant, Latour, Locke, Marx, Mill, Plato, Rorty, Ryle, Sartre, Skinner, Spinoza, Whitehead and Wittgenstein, among others, McStay advances a wealth of new ideas and terminology, from affective breaches to zombie media. Theorizing privacy as an affective principle of interaction between human and non-human actors, McStay progresses to make unique arguments on transparency, the publicness of subjectivity, our contemporary techno-social condition and the nature of empathic media in an age of intentional machines. Reconstructing our most basic assumptions about privacy, this book is a must-read for theoreticians, empirical analysts, students, those contributing to policy and anyone interested in the steering philosophical ideas that inform their own orientation and thinking about privacy.

The Mood of Information explores advertising from the perspective of information flows rather than the more familiar approach of symbolic representation. At the heart of this book is an aspiration to better understand contemporary and nascent forms of commercial solicitation predicated on the commodification of experience and subjectivity. In assessing novel forms of advertising that involve tracking users' web browsing activity over a period of time, this book seeks to grasp and explicate key trends within the media and advertising industries along with the technocultural, legal, regulatory and political environment online behavioural advertising operates within. Situated within contemporary scholarly debate and interest in recursive media that involves intensification of discourses of feedback, personalization, recommendation, co-production, constructivism and the preempting of intent, this book represents a departure from textual criticism of advertising to one based on exposition of networked means of inferring preferences, desires and orientations that reflect ways of being, or moods of information.

Questions of privacy are critical to the study of contemporary media and society. When we’re more and more connected to devices and to content, it’s increasingly important to understand how information about ourselves is being collected, transmitted, processed, and mediated. Privacy and the Media equips students to do just that, providing a comprehensive overview of both the theory and reality of privacy and the media in the 21st Century. Offering a rich overview of this crucial and topical relationship, Andy McStay:

Explores the foundational topics of journalism, the Snowden leaks, and encryption by companies such as Apple Considers commercial applications including behavioural advertising, big data, algorithms, and the role of platforms such as Google and Facebook Introduces the role of the body with discussions of emotion, wearable media, peer-based privacy, and sexting Encourages students to put their understanding to work with suggestions for further research, challenging them to explore how privacy functions in practice.

Privacy and the Media is not a polemic on privacy as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but a call to assess the detail and the potential implications of contemporary media technologies and practices. It is essential reading for students and researchers of digital media, social media, digital politics, and the creative and cultural industries. 

'Privacy and the Media is a thoughtful survey of the privacy landscape. McStay reviews the intricate tensions and seeming contradictions to offer an accessible book for anyone curious about the contemporary debates in privacy.' - danah boyd, author of It’s Complicated and founder of Data & Society ‘McStay’s great achievement here is to confront many of the pertinent and complex questions about media and privacy in a style that is both authoritative and easy to read... His book will prove an excellent companion for all students of this fascinating and crucial topic.’ - Mireille Hildebrandt, Vrije Universiteit Brussel ‘Clearly and accessibly written, this book is a great resource for anyone interested in the broad range of ways in which privacy and contemporary media are entangled and in the big picture of privacy/media relations today... I will definitely be assigning it for my students.’ - Helen Kennedy, University of Sheffield

Questions of privacy are critical to the study of contemporary media and society. When we’re more and more connected to devices and to content, it’s increasingly important to understand how information about ourselves is being collected, transmitted, processed, and mediated. Privacy and the Media equips students to do just that, providing a comprehensive overview of both the theory and reality of privacy and the media in the 21st Century. Offering a rich overview of this crucial and topical relationship, Andy McStay:

Explores the foundational topics of journalism, the Snowden leaks, and encryption by companies such as Apple Considers commercial applications including behavioural advertising, big data, algorithms, and the role of platforms such as Google and Facebook Introduces the role of the body with discussions of emotion, wearable media, peer-based privacy, and sexting Encourages students to put their understanding to work with suggestions for further research, challenging them to explore how privacy functions in practice.

Privacy and the Media is not a polemic on privacy as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but a call to assess the detail and the potential implications of contemporary media technologies and practices. It is essential reading for students and researchers of digital media, social media, digital politics, and the creative and cultural industries. 

'Privacy and the Media is a thoughtful survey of the privacy landscape. McStay reviews the intricate tensions and seeming contradictions to offer an accessible book for anyone curious about the contemporary debates in privacy.' - danah boyd, author of It’s Complicated and founder of Data & Society ‘McStay’s great achievement here is to confront many of the pertinent and complex questions about media and privacy in a style that is both authoritative and easy to read... His book will prove an excellent companion for all students of this fascinating and crucial topic.’ - Mireille Hildebrandt, Vrije Universiteit Brussel ‘Clearly and accessibly written, this book is a great resource for anyone interested in the broad range of ways in which privacy and contemporary media are entangled and in the big picture of privacy/media relations today... I will definitely be assigning it for my students.’ - Helen Kennedy, University of Sheffield

What happens when media technologies are able to interpret our feelings, emotions, moods, and intentions? In this cutting edge new book, Andrew McStay explores that very question and argues that these abilities result in a form of technological empathy. Offering a balanced and incisive overview of the issues raised by ‘Emotional AI’, this book:

Provides a clear account of the social benefits and drawbacks of new media trends and technologies such as emoji, wearables and chatbots Demonstrates through empirical research how ‘empathic media’ have been developed and introduced both by start-ups and global tech corporations such as Facebook Helps readers understand the potential implications on everyday life and social relations through examples such as video-gaming, facial coding, virtual reality and cities Calls for a more critical approach to the rollout of emotional AI in public and private spheres

Combining established theory with original analysis, this book will change the way students view, use and interact with new technologies. It should be required reading for students and researchers in media, communications, the social sciences and beyond.

 

 

What happens when media technologies are able to interpret our feelings, emotions, moods, and intentions? In this cutting edge new book, Andrew McStay explores that very question and argues that these abilities result in a form of technological empathy. Offering a balanced and incisive overview of the issues raised by ‘Emotional AI’, this book:

Provides a clear account of the social benefits and drawbacks of new media trends and technologies such as emoji, wearables and chatbots Demonstrates through empirical research how ‘empathic media’ have been developed and introduced both by start-ups and global tech corporations such as Facebook Helps readers understand the potential implications on everyday life and social relations through examples such as video-gaming, facial coding, virtual reality and cities Calls for a more critical approach to the rollout of emotional AI in public and private spheres

Combining established theory with original analysis, this book will change the way students view, use and interact with new technologies. It should be required reading for students and researchers in media, communications, the social sciences and beyond.

 

 

This open access book deconstructs the core features of online misinformation and disinformation. It finds that the optimisation of emotions for commercial and political gain is a primary cause of false information online. The chapters distil societal harms, evaluate solutions, and consider what must be done to strengthen societies as new biometric forms of emotion profiling emerge. Based on a rich, empirical, and interdisciplinary literature that examines multiple countries, the book will be of interest to scholars and students of Communications, Journalism, Politics, Sociology, Science and Technology Studies, and Information Science, as well as global and local policymakers and ordinary citizens interested in how to prevent the spread of false information worldwide, both now and in the future.