Advertisers argue that attention is a finite resource. According to one study, individuals in the digital society are exposed to 8,000 advertisements a day. Given humans’ limited capacity for information processing, this barrage of advertisements is mostly ignored or forgotten within seconds. This means that if commercial brands are to compete successfully for the attention... Continue Reading →
The Twitter Prisoner Dilemma and the Future of Digital Diplomacy
Note: This post was originally published as an Op Ed at E-International Relations. It was co-authored by Ilan Manor, Corneliu Bjola and Bar Fishman. On November 23, 2023, the mayor of Paris announced that she was leaving X, the network formerly known as Twitter. Citing a rise in a disinformation, hate speech, racism and “vicious... Continue Reading →
A China-First Approach to Digital Policy Making
The digital world is presently marked by an exceptional contradiction. On the one hand, a digital and interconnected world necessitates various forms of global governance. Global agreements, institutions and frameworks are what enable the free flow of information, capital, and resources across borders. Moreover, global institutions are essential for crisis management in an interconnected world... Continue Reading →
Towards the Strategic Use of AI in Diplomacy
Whatever happened to the Metaverse? In June of 2022, Facebook officially changed its name to Meta reflecting a strategic decision to develop applications for the Metaverse. Hailed as the future incarnation of the internet, the Metaverse was described as a digital plane that would exist alongside the physical plane. Generated by advanced augmented and virtual... Continue Reading →
Is Humor an Effective Digital Diplomacy Strategy?
Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, Ukraine has relied on its social media channels to obtain foreign policy goals. Through its use of Twitter, Facebook and Telegram Ukraine has crowdfunded humanitarian aid, raised funds for the purchasing of weapons, negotiated agreements with tech magnets such as Elon Musk, managed a cyber army and obtained... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg fight will be streamed on X, according to Musk (CNN) Ukraine’s elite forces rely on technology to strike behind enemy lines (The Washington Post) U.S. company... Continue Reading →
Hold On: Ukraine’s Wartime Messaging
On July 8th, 2023, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published a video on Twitter (shown below). The accompanying text clearly outlined the video's intended messages: The War in Ukraine is no action film or computer simulation. It’s a real war, with real stakes. The text concludes with the statement “And we very much know what we are doing.” This... Continue Reading →
Real Fakes and The Future of Diplomacy
In 2014, a group of data scientists from Microsoft teamed up with AI experts to create a computer program that could generate pictures in the style of Rembrandt. The team created a deep learning network which reviewed 150 gigabytes’ worth of Rembrandt paintings. The network soon learned to recognize distinctive features of Rembrandt’s works be... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- Uncensored Chatbots Provoke a Fracas Over Free Speech (The New York Times) Israeli technology pioneers using drones, AI and big data to farm (Times of Israel) Can China develop its own... Continue Reading →
AI’s Impact on Public Diplomacy
Recently, I was asked by an American diplomat about the benefits of using AI in public diplomacy activities. The Diplomat stated that as AI was a new kind of technology, foreign ministries around the world are anxious to learn about its benefits and shortcomings. This very question was put to me again this week when... Continue Reading →