Netanyahu Posts ‘Proof of Life’ Video
AI Sows Doubts About What’s Real
Senior researcher Alberto Fittarelli spoke with the New York Times about the double threat of AI-produced disinformation. “Verifying everything is incredibly exhausting, and not everyone can afford doing it,” Fittarelli says.
In the fall, researchers at the Citizen Lab found that an Israeli-backed campaign had used AI-generated videos to encourage Iranians to overthrow their government.
Recently, rumours of the Israeli Prime Minister’s death proliferated on social media. “Benjamin Netanyahu having to prove that he’s alive and that his image is not AI-generated shows that the risk cuts both ways,” Fittarelli says.
The consequence is not just the spread of disinformation, but a lack of trust in images and videos that are actually real. “This is not a conceptual threat,” says Fittarelli, and anyone “knowledgeable of manipulation techniques” can take advantage of this widespread suspicion to sow distrust.
