Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to fabricate video and audio of people doing and saying things they never did or said. Hollywood has used deepfakes in movies, and museums are exploring them as ways to animate famous paintings and bring long-gone artists to life. But the same technology is being used for sexual harassment in cyberspace and threatening to foment chaos in the 2020 election cycle. How do deepfakes work? What lies ahead? What can be done? These issues were explored on September 27, 2019, in two programs organized by the Future of Information Alliance.

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How can we know our world in the face of efforts to undermine traditional sources of information … and in a time when citizens raise serious concerns about what and whom they can trust? That question was explored on May 15, 2018, in a program organized by the Future of Information Alliance at The Phillips Collection as part of the University of Maryland’s partnership with the museum.

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A University of Maryland program in partnership with The Phillips Collection was held on June 6, 2017 to explore the frontiers of virtual reality, augmented reality and immersive storytelling. Three speakers working at the forefront of innovation in these areas discussed how these cutting-edge platforms are being used in fields as diverse and journalism, education, defense and the arts and are serving as engines of empathy and windows into our cultural and environmental heritage.

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The FIA Innovation Spark Grant Competition winners presented their final presentations on May 5, 2017. Members of the four winning teams were named FIA Innovation Fellows and shared up to $10,000 per team in stipends and expenses to carry out their projects aimed at using virtual and augmented reality to address real-world challenges.

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The winning teams, whose members have been named FIA Innovation Fellows, will share in up to $10,000 per team in stipends and expenses to carry out projects aimed at using virtual and augmented reality to address real-world challenges. Altogether, these four teams include 16 students and 5 faculty mentors from 8 UMD colleges and schools. The teams plan to consult with several FIA and outside partners during the course of their work.

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A panel discussion celebrating the future of information was held on July 8, 2016 at the Harpers Ferry Design Center (HFC) to honor Don Kodak as he steps down from 10 years of leadership at HFC. Over the past 4 years, Don has been an active member of the Future of Information Alliance, helping to host meetings, collaborating with colleagues at the University of Maryland, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the Newseum, and more. A few of these colleagues joined the discussion to explore issues, challenges, and opportunities of the future of information.

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The Wikid GRRLs project began with an article in the New York Times in 2011 on Wikipedia’s gender gap, reporting that less than 15 percent of the contributors to the online encyclopedia are women. The seed that FIA sowed with Wikid GRRLs more than three years ago has blossomed into a fruit that has benefited more than 65 (overwhelmingly minority) girls, nine undergraduate students, three graduate students and three faculty members.

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Dan Russell — Google’s “director of user happiness” and FIA’s Future-ist in Residence — taught a workshop on how to become a power search user and continue down the path of being a lifelong learner.

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Three future-ists discussed the future of virtual reality and innovative imagery: Graham Roberts, Senior Editor at The New York Times; Dan Russell, Google’s Director of User Happiness; and Amitabh Varshney, Director of the University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. Leslie Walker, the Visiting Professor in Digital Innovation at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism moderated the discussion.

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