Events

Trust is essential to a well functioning democracy, but trust in American institutions is at an all-time low. An array of factors are at play: a political structure that rewards extreme views, a communication system that boosts outrage, external actors with plans for disruption, and more. Amid these factors, agentic AI is emerging as a new social disruptor, enabling bad actors to create authentic-looking communications intended to defraud and mislead soft targets. Join information operations expert J.D. Maddox for an inside look at the new AI systems that can defend against these new hybrid information attacks, and gain a better understanding of the broad array of systemic solutions to our generation's societal challenge.

J.D. Maddox is an executive, professor, and author, and he has previously served as a CIA analytic manager, diplomat, and Psychological Operations soldier. As Founder of Inventive Insights and Vice President of Deft9 Solutions, J.D. specializes in the application of effective technological capabilities for high-consequence national programs, such as persuading foreign audiences, countering terrorism, encouraging civic engagement, and countering foreign malign influence. J.D. teaches Open Source Information Analysis at Tulane University, and has taught Disinformation and Policy Responses, and National Security Challenges, at George Mason University. J.D. is a frequent author of national security assessments, such as The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq (The New York Times), It’s Time to Think About (and Fear) Drones and Psychological Operations, (War On The Rocks), Enable Effective Operations in the Information Environment, (Proceedings Magazine), The U.S. is in the Midst of a Perfect ‘Cognitive Warfare’ Storm, (The Cipher Brief), Fifty-Five Hours of Risk: The Dangerous Implications of Slow Attack Attribution, (Modern War Institute at West Point), and The Tragedy of the Mass-Shooter Algorithm (Lawfare).