[TALK] How to counter foreign malign influence leveraging AI? by Doowan Lee
Details
Speaker: Doowan Lee
Date: Friday, 6th September, 2024
Time: 10am – 12 noon
Venue: Conference Hall, Penang Institute
Moderator: Dr. Tan Lee Ooi
This event is a collaborative effort between Penang Institute and the US Embassy, aiming to explore these transformative potentials of AI and address the associated challenges in the context of global information integrity.
Entrance to this event is FREE.
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About The Speaker
Doowan Lee is Chief Strategy Officer at EdgeTheory, an AI company that provides detection, prioritization, and visualization solutions on influence dynamics in the information environment. He is an information security executive specializing in how to leverage data and AI to detect malign information operations and promote reliable and accurate information. He’s also a member of the Social Media Task Force at Georgetown University. In addition, Lee works with Trust in Media, Military Veterans in Journalism, and New Debate as a senior advisor. Lee has extensively published in leading journals and magazines on how to mitigate and prevent the harms of malign information in content supply chains. Before joining EdgeTheory, he worked at leading AI companies in Silicon Valley. He also taught at the Naval Postgraduate School for more than 11 years as a faculty member and principal scientist. There he developed and executed operational and communications technology projects with federal R&D agencies to support the U.S. government’s efforts to combat violent extremist networks and mis/disinformation.
Moderator
Dr. Tan Lee Ooi (陈利威) is the Director of Research at Penang Institute. He holds a PhD in Southeast Asia Studies from the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on cyber politics, religious modernity, and contemporary Malaysian politics. Previously, he served as an academician at private higher education institutions. Dr. Tan has authored two books and numerous academic journal articles. His first book, Dinamik Ruang Siber dalam Gerakan Reformasi di Malaysia, published by Penerbit UKM, explores cyberspace dynamics during Malaysia’s Reformasi Movement. His second book, Buddhist Revitalization and Chinese Religions in Malaysia, was published by Amsterdam University Press. In addition to his scholarly work, he contributes opinion pieces on politics, culture, and media to local Malaysian media outlets.
Abstract
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a paradigm shift for how we consume, generate, share, amplify, and analyze digital content. We’ve seen an increasing number of AI-generated audio, videos, and images that sow confusion and distrust about both public and private institutions. We’ve seen mounting attacks on election procedures and governance by inauthentic content around the world from Ukraine, Slovakia, Singapore, Bangladesh, India, the UK, the Philippines, Venezuela, and the US. Trust in institutions, to include government, media, financial institutions, education etc, continues to decline as noted by public opinion polls. AI-enabled phishing and social engineering further exacerbate the harms of mis/disinformation. However, generative AI also provides tremendous potential and use cases to scale and speed how we can discern quality information from misinformation and disinformation. By ingesting, normalizing, and classifying vast volumes of social media, news, broadcast, dark web, and cyber data, AI models can greatly assist us to accelerate and expand how we map and understand where narratives comes from, how they’re amplified, and even what they may attempt to affect. These use cases can empower journalists, communications professionals, researchers, and analysts to calibrate strategic communications, communicate effectively with intended communities, and promote transparent and reliable information in an increasingly opaque and complex information environment.
Event Summary
On 6 September 2024, Dr. Doowan Lee, an American technologist and national security expert, delivered a talk hosted by Penang Institute in collaboration with the US Embassy. The talk focused on strategies to counter foreign malign influence through the use of AI.
He addressed one of the most critical issues of our digital age: the intersection of artificial intelligence and information security. With the rise of AI, unprecedented tools are available to detect, analyze, and combat foreign malign influence in the information environment. While AI holds great promise in safeguarding information integrity, it also introduces challenges—such as bias, ethical concerns, and the
risk of exploitation by malicious actors.
He demonstrated how AI can be effectively leveraged to detect and mitigate disinformation, while exploring the technological, ethical, and social questions surrounding its use. Dr. Lee also introduced new developments and tools designed to protect data integrity. During the Q&A session, he engaged with the audience to emphasize the roles of policymakers and the general public in guiding AI’s development through awareness and discussions tailored to the local context.
Event Highlights