​Can AI enhance democratic processes, streamline voter engagement, and provide insightful data analytics, or does it pose significant risks, including the amplification of misinformation and potential manipulation of voter behavior? Join us as we hear from experts about how AI is being deployed for the upcoming election season, exploring both its potential benefits and dangers to democracy.

​Speakers

​Sam Gregory is an internationally recognized human rights advocate and technologist specializing in preserving trust and authenticity in complex audiovisual communication. As executive director of WITNESS, he leads efforts to support millions using video and technology for human rights and civic journalism. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on AI and synthetic media and is a TED speaker on deepfakes. In 2018, he launched WITNESS's Prepare, Don’t Panic initiative, focusing on deepfakes and generative AI, influencing platform policies and technology design. Sam has served on the International Criminal Court’s Technology Advisory Board, co-chaired the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on AI and the Media, and led the Threats and Harms Taskforce for media provenance standards. He holds an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and a PhD from the University of Westminster.

​Joan Donovan, PhD, is an assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University. Donovan leads the field in examining internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation, and disinformation campaigns. She is the founder of The Critical Internet Studies Institute, a nonprofit based in Boston that advocates for a public interest internet. She is the coauthor of Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America, with Emily Dreyfuss and Brian Friedberg. Formerly, Donovan was the Research Director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy, where she directed the Technology and Social Change Research Project.