Listening in: How Audio Surveillance Became Artificial Intelligence - Paperback

by Toby Heys (Author), Anthony Mandal (Editor), David Jackson (Author)

In 1945, W. Averell Harriman, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, was presented with a carved wooden plaque of the Great Seal of the United States as a 'gesture of friendship' by a delegation from the Soviet's Young Pioneer Organization.
Unbeknownst to him, one of the first covert listening devices, invented by Leon Theremin was hidden within it and was subsequently used to listen in on the ambassador's conversations for six years before being discovered. This book uses remarkable tales like this to tell the story of how modern audio surveillance developed and its important role in the evolution of today's artificial intelligence.

Author Biography

Toby Heys is a professor of digital arts at the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and co-founder of the AUDINT sonic research unit.
David Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Visualisation at the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
Marsha Courneya is an Associate Lecturer in Digital Dramaturgy at the International Film School of Cologne and doctoral researcher in Digital Culture and Communication at Birkbeck University, London, UK.