Sam Gregory

1/Citizen Lab’s new report on PRISONBREAK is a must-read. It exposes an AI-enabled influence operation targeting Iran with deceptive media, from the infamous Evin Prison gates video to deepfake music.

A prominent US family has been cashing in on DRC carbon credits while local communities decry unmet promises Since 2004, a prominent US family has made millions through the sale of carbon credits in the DRC. Meanwhile, the community who lives there has been left in poverty.

globalvoices.org/2025/09/10/a...

10 things to know about the camera on Pixel 10 Here are just some of the things you can do with the camera on the new Pixel 10 smartphone lineup.

Pixel 10 out - 1st smartphone integrating C2PA in native camera app, shows content credentials. Reasons impt:
*Reality matters: key to show authenticity of photos
*Shows 'how' AI and human mixed in creation + edits
*Focuses on recipe: on the how, not the who (privacy!)
blog.google/products/pix...

Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights? The long read: Given his career as a human rights barrister, it was hoped Keir Starmer would be the PM to restore the UK’s commitment to international law. The reality tells a different story

Good morning, I've written a piece about the prime minister. I spoke to several dozen sources, including government insiders, former legal colleagues and campaigners to ask: what happened to Keir Starmer the heroic human rights lawyer? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

4/ Same fundamentals of consent, disclosure, and hopefully integrity to the person's identity/speech. But that integrity is clouded by chatbot hallucinations, by a bot's frequent trained instinct 'to please,' and also most importantly by filling in blanks from past context to present-day advocacy

3/ How does an interactive chatbot-driven avatar differ from static resurrection deepfakes such as murdered Mexican journalist Javier Valdez calling for justice, a victim impact statement from someone dead in Arizona, or President Suharto coming back from beyond the grave campaigning for his party?

2/ Jim Acosta "interviewed" a representation of one of the victims of the Parkland shootings, Joaquin Oliver, created by his father. It raised key questions about what it means to bring a griefbot - an interactive chatbot that relatives and friends interact with - into the public sphere.

I made an AI clone of my dead son - and let a journalist interview him An interview between a US journalist and an AI clone of a teenager who was killed during shooting at his school has prompted criticism online.

Griefbots are increasingly common in personal usage while static resurrection deepfakes are used for advocacy and entertainment, but what does it mean to interact with an avatar of a dead person for political advocacy? I talked to BBC about THAT interview by Jim Acosta.
www.bbc.com/news/videos/...

4/ Same fundamentals of consent, disclosure, and hopefully integrity to the person's identity/speech. But that integrity is clouded by chatbot hallucinations, by a bot's frequent trained instinct 'to please,' and also by the nature of filling in the blanks from past context to present-day advocacy

3/ How does an interactive chatbot-driven avatar differ from static resurrection deepfakes such as the murdered Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, a victim impact statement from someone dead in Arizona, or a President Suharto coming back from beyond the grave? All usages over the past years.

2/ Jim Acosta "interviewed" a representation of one of the victims of the Parkland shootings, Joaquin Oliver. It raised key questions about what it means to bring a griefbot - an interactive chatbot that relatives and friends interact with - into the public sphere.

Iran-Israel AI War Propaganda Is a Warning to the World The war signaled critical challenges in the growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

"AI-generated content related to the Iran-Israel conflict has taken disinformation to an industrial level,"

@mahsaalimardani.bsky.social and @samgregory.bsky.social write for @carnegieendowment.org on the rise of AI war propaganda.

Iran-Israel AI War Propaganda Is a Warning to the World The war signaled critical challenges in the growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

During the Iran-Israel war, civilians in Iran had little access to trustworthy information. AI deepfakes circulated online exacerbated this situation. What are the implications?

@mahsaalimardani.bsky.social and @samgregory.bsky.social explained:

Iran-Israel AI War Propaganda Is a Warning to the World The war signaled critical challenges in the growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

The growing gap between escalating AI deception and analysts' and our ability to detect creates new challenges
➡️ In global conflict
➡️ For civilians struggling to communicate and understand

@mahsaalimardani.bsky.social and I discuss in @carnegieendowment.org
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Iran-Israel AI War Propaganda Is a Warning to the World The war signaled critical challenges in the growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

🆕| There is a growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

@mahsaalimardani.bsky.social & @samgregory.bsky.social's latest for @carnegieendowment.org⤵️

Iran-Israel AI War Propaganda Is a Warning to the World The war signaled critical challenges in the growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

The Iran-Israel war signals a major gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it.

@mahsaalimardani.bsky.social & @samgregory.bsky.social explain how the info war is changing and its consequences @carnegieendowment.org

⬇️

carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Iran-Israel AI War Propaganda Is a Warning to the World The war signaled critical challenges in the growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict.

Glad to collaborate with @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social on this exploration of AI war propaganda in the Israel-Iran war and the gaps growing in our capability to detect and respond carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

For my 1st post on Bluesky I am thrilled to provide you all with little antidote to the doomscroll... the HURIDOCS 2024 Annual Report! In it you will find inspiring stories of using information, data and solid documentation methodologies to support justice and advocacy initiatives around the world.

HURIDOCS | Human Rights Documentation & digital tools HURIDOCS empowers defenders with secure, open-source tools for human rights documentation, data protection, and global advocacy.

HURIDOCS matters now more than ever 💪. Our Executive Director shares why building independent, human rights-based digital infrastructure is essential to the future of the human rights movement.

📣 Read her full piece and share it with your network:
🔗 huridocs.org/2025/06/safe...

Reality on Trial—Sam Gregory on Life With Machines And the exhaustion of trying to prove EVERYTHING

Baratunde is spot on. He highlights three things from the episode we did:

(1) Reality is not sustainable if it always has to be proven.
(2) A solution that doesn’t work for everyone is not a solution.
(3) We need a food safety system for information
newsletter.lifewithmachines.media/p/reality-on...

OK, here's an insightful book on #deepfakes from Brazil. I especially appreciate Diego Abreu's chapter explaining one of the criminalization attempts in Brazil, and the projected impact on youth [in Portuguese]: desvelar.org/enfrentando-... Cc @samgregory.bsky.social

YouTube video by Baratunde Thurston Why Dictators Love AI & How To Fight Back | Sam Gregory (Ep. 21)

This was one of the most engaging (and bleakest, because the world...) deepfakes, AI and human rights conversations I've had - with @baratunde.com, who is knowledgeable, perceptive and funny and whose pet AI BLAIRwas very snarky....
#ai #lifewithmachines #deepfakes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucb8...

This AI expert is creating a chatbot to keep you safe Journalist and data scientist Nikita Roy speaks about JESS, a project that promises to give reporters timely advice when facing danger.

“Sometimes, the question is not, “What can AI do for you?” Sometimes the question is, “What is the job that needs to be done?”” says ICFJ Knight Fellow Nikita Roy in an interview with the Reuters Institute. Read more: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/ai-expe...

BBC launches satellite news channel in Myanmar after Trump silences VOA Corporation responds to ‘urgent need’ following earthquake by taking over Voice of America’s former channel

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...

📹 Deceptive AI video: what to know about creation, usage, guardrails and regulation.

📈⚠️ At #Ijf25, I did a rapid-fire update on what's happening with rapid technological advances, deceptive global usages, and emergent guardrails

#Sora #Kling #Veo2 #deepfakes

www.youtube.com/live/pbA3FEv...

📹 Deceptive AI video: what to know about creation, usage, guardrails and regulation.

📈⚠️ At #Ijf25, I did a rapid-fire update on what's happening with rapid technological advances, deceptive global usages, and emergent guardrails

#Sora #Kling #Veo2 #deepfakes

www.youtube.com/live/pbA3FEv...

What we learned from tracking AI use in global elections Citizens and politicians around the world last year used AI for misinformation, memes, and more.

🤖#GenAI in #Elections 2024? @khadijaalam.bsky.social asked me for @restofworld.org

"...there were clear faultlines emerging around the capacity of journalists, fact-checkers, and civil society to deal with, detect, and communicate around the deepfake cases they had"

restofworld.org/2025/global-...

Here is the list with this year' speakers. Are you a speaker and want to be added to the list? Write to us! #Ijf25
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Covering...
📺 Key developments in generative AI video, and key tools
🙄 Landscape of deceptive video usages, drawing on lessons learned from 2024 and 2025
👀 Technical solutions and guardrails
😵‍💫 Regulation... from EU AI Act to the Trump White House to global responses?
🚀 Where is AI video going?