In a never before seen exercise, election workers in Arizona grappled with AI-generated deepfake scenarios designed to disrupt the electoral process. Led by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the simulation aimed to prepare officials for the increasing threat of convincing digital impersonations.
As concerns grow over the potential impact of deepfakes on elections, experts emphasize the importance of bolstering cybersecurity measures and fostering media partnerships to combat misinformation.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to provide context, commentary and analysis on this matter. If you would like to speak to an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Tayah Frye at [email protected].
Ethan Porter is an Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs and of Political Science at George Washington University. He holds appointments in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Political Science Department and is the Cluster Lead of the Misinformation/Disinformation Lab at GW's Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics. His research has appeared or is forthcoming in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Political Communication and other journals.
Neil Johnson, professor of physics, leads a new initiative in Complexity and Data Science which combines cross-disciplinary fundamental research with data science to attack complex real-world problems. He is an expert on how misinformation and hate speech spreads online and effective mitigation strategies. Johnson recently published new research on bad-actor AI online activity in 2024. The study predicts that daily, bad-actor AI activity is going to escalate by mid-2024, increasing the threat that it could affect election results.
David Broniatowski, an associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering and the associate director for the Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics at the George Washington University. Broniatowski is also GW’s lead principal investigator of the NSF-funded institute called TRAILS that explores trustworthy AI. He conducts research in decision making under uncertainty, collective decision making, the design and regulation of complex information flow systems, and how behavior spreads online. Broniatowski can discuss a number of topics related to AI’s role and use in spreading misinformation as well as efforts to combat misinformation online, including the challenges of tackling misinformation and how messages spread.
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