Newswise — WASHINGTON (July 10, 2024) – The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that federal prosecutors shut down hundreds of fake, AI-generated social media accounts used by Russian operatives to create a "bot farm" that spread lies and pro-Vladimir Putin disinformation in the United States and abroad, USA Today reports. Many of these accounts alleged to be Americans who were taking to social media sites like X, formerly known as Twitter, to praise Putin. 

Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, context and analysis on a number of topics related to AI and misinformation, including efforts to regulate AI, the importance of building trustworthy AI, and the impact misinformation can have on elections, politics and worldviews, in the U.S. but also globally. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialists Shannon Mitchell at [email protected] and Cate Douglass at [email protected].


Misinformation & Trustworthy AI

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 published new research this spring 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. 

Ethan Porter is an associate professor of media and public affairs and of political science. He holds appointments in the GW 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. 

Law

Alicia Solow-Niederman, Associate Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. Solow-Niederman is an expert in the intersection of law and technology. Her research focuses on how to regulate emerging technologies, such as AI with an emphasis on algorithmic accountability, data governance and information privacy. Solow-Niederman is a member of the EPIC Advisory Board and has written and taught in privacy law, government use of AI and the likes.

Aram Gavoor is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professorial Lecturer in Law; professor (by courtesy), Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration. Gavoor is an expert in American administrative law, national security and federal court. He can speak to the growing concerns of unregulated AI. 

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