Guests Dr. Hany Farid and Ted Schlein join host Col. Dave Brown and co-host Dr. Tim Schultz to discuss deepfake technology and the challenge of the proliferation of fake news and disinformation. One of Aesop’s fables was titled Prometheus and Dolus, or sometimes alternatively titled, On Truth and Falsehood. In the fable, Prometheus can bring to life the figures he creates, and so he makes a sculpture of Truth (Veritas). When he is called away by Zeus, he leaves his workshop in the hands of his apprentice Dolus (the Greek God of Deception). While he is gone, Dolus fashions a replica of Prometheus's Truth, but runs out of clay, so his statue has no feet. When Prometheus returns, he marvels at the flawless likeness and fires both sculptures in the oven. When both figures come to life, Prometheus' Veritas (Truth) walks gracefully forward, while Dolus’ figure remains still - unable to walk. Ever after, Dolus' figure was called Mendacity (Falsehood). This is a fitting description of our topic which concerns the ever-growing area of deepfake digital media, its potential for tremendous negative consequences for domestic and international cybersecurity, its larger potential for societal disruption, and recommendations for how best to address it.

Articles:

• California Enacts New Laws to Combat AI-Generated Deceptive Election Content, S. Levi, T. Rosen et al, Skadden, 27 Sep 2024
• California Passes Election ‘Deepfake’ Laws, Forcing Social Media Companies to Take Action, NYT, 17 Sep 2024
• Deepfakes Are Evolving. This Company Wants to Catch Them All, W. Knight, Wired, 27 Jun 2024
• Hany Farid: Creating, Weaponizing, and Detecting Deep Fakes, UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, 3 May 2023 (video)
• A Forensics Expert on Princess Kate’s Photo—and How Credentialing Tools Can Help Build Trust in a World of Increasing Uncertainty, H. Farid, TIME, 12 Mar 2024
• AI is destabilizing ‘the concept of truth itself’ in 2024 election, P. Verma & G. De Vynck, Washington Post, 22 Jan 2024
• Hany Farid: To limit disinformation, we must regulate internet platforms, E. Lempinen, UC Berkeley News, 21 Nov, 2023
• Podcast: Hany Farid on deep fakes, doctored photos, and disinformation, H. Farid, Q. Jurecic & E. Douek, Brookings, 24 Jul 2020 (Podcast)
• Creating,Using, Misusing, and Detecting Deep Fakes, Farid, H. (2022). Creating, Using, Misusing, and Detecting Deep Fakes. Journal of Online Trust and Safety, 1(4). https://doi.org/10.54501/jots.v1i4.56
• CV:

Professor Jacob Ware joins host Col. Dave Brown and Dr. Timothy Hoyt to discuss both current manifestations of and potential future episodes of election violence in this presidential election cycle. Quoting from one of Professor Ware's recent articles, "counterterrorism scholars and analysts have predicted for [some time] that the 2024 presidential election would provide a particularly volatile flashpoint for election violence. The near-assassination of Trump demonstrates the accuracy of these concerns—but they are only part of the story."

The conversation ranges from how political rhetoric framed in existential terms drives these outcomes, the staggering percentages of the U.S. polity that feel violence might be necessary to fix U.S. political problems, and identifies potential target orientations before, during, and after the election. This timely discussion focuses on the growth and significance of both realized and potential political violence in our country as we move into this important election season, and beyond.

Articles/Reference:

• Election Violence Is Already in Full Swing, J. Ware, Lawfare, 22 Sep 2024
• Opinion: Trump assassination attempts are just the beginning. Imagine what is coming after the election, J. Ware & C. Clarke, L.A. Times, 17 Sep 2024
• How Bad Will Political Violence in the U.S. Get? B. Hoffman & J. War, Foreign Policy, 28 Jun 2024
• Preventing U.S. Election Violence in 2024, J. Ware, CFR, 17 April 2024
• Political Violence Becomes America's New Norm - But is Still Shocking, A. Zurcher, BBC, 15 Sep 2024
• 2 Virginia Guardsmen Are Running a Rural Anti-Government Militia, S. Beynon, Military.com, 5 Sep 2024
• Could Civil War Erupt in America?, R. Agrawal, Foreign Policy, 29 Aug 2024 (video)
• Iran Hack Illuminates Long-Standing Trends—and Raises New Challenges, R. DiResta, Lawfare, 26 Aug 2024
• Two Ex-Marines Sentenced for Terror Plot to Attack Power Grid, N. Slayton, Task & Purpose, 27 Jul 2024

In this special episode, on the occasion of the 140th Anniversary of the U.S. Naval War College, we take a break from the annals of Irregular Warfare and focus on the historical legacy and significance of this storied institution. Viribus Mari Victoria: or from the Latin (Victory thru Sea Power) is the motto of the college, and Dr. John Hattendorf and Dr. John Maurer join host COL Dave Brown as they reflect on the oldest continuing institution of its kind in the world. The Naval War College is a national treasure, and quoting its founder, Admiral Stephen Luce, its legacy and task today, remains to; “broaden an officer’s views, extend his mental horizon on national and international questions, and give him a just appreciation of the great variety and extent of the requirements of his (or her) profession.”

Reference:

Sailors and Scholars - The Centennial History of the U.S. Naval War College by John B. Hattendorf, B. Mitchell Simpson, III, John R. Wadleigh. Newport, R.I. : Naval War College Press ; 1984

Guests:

John B. Hattendorf, D.Phil., D.Litt., L.H.D., F.R.Hist.S.

Professor Emeritus, and former Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History from 1984 to 2016, Professor Hattendorf also served as Chair of the College’s Advanced Research Department, Chair of the Maritime History Department, and Director of the Naval War College Museum. A former Surface Warfare Officer, he earned degrees in history from Kenyon College, Brown University, and the University of Oxford. He is the author or editor of more than 50 books, including "Sailors and Scholars," and the "Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History."

John H. Maurer, Ph.D.

The Alfred Thayer Mahan Distinguished University Professor of Sea Power and Grand Strategy at the college. He also served as the Chair of the Strategy and Policy Department, where he led a major reform of the College’s curriculum on strategy. He is a graduate of Yale University and holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is the author or editor of books examining the outbreak of the First World War, naval rivalries and arms control between the two world wars, and a study about Winston Churchill’s views on British foreign policy and grand strategy. He is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), and served as executive editor of Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs. He also serves on the Academic Board of Advisers of The International Churchill Society, and has served on the Secretary of the Navy’s advisory committee on naval history.