Digital Environment

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Post 1

The Internet and social media are powerful, free tools available to the public.

When it comes to social media, there seems to be a new platform surfacing daily in addition to the more widely used tools like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat. While social media has many benefits like informing citizens about natural disasters (e.g., wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes) and missing person notifications (e.g., amber alerts, silver alerts, CLEAR alerts), it also has the extraordinary power to divide and accelerate violence and conflict.

• Fake accounts are frequently created.

• Malicious users spread misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, extremism and incite violence intentionally.

• Good-natured users may unintentionally spread and support these things through likes, comments and shares.

• While some social media companies are getting better at identifying hate speech, there are very few, if any, red flags, or alerts that appear that identify comments or posts as misinformation.

• Code words are often used among extremist groups or during conflict that would be undetectable to an outsider or the 4.48 billion worldwide users.

Post 2

There is no indication that the spread of disinformation will decline anytime soon. It will likely get worse with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. On the one hand, with AI, we now have some tools to better detect and identify disinformation. However, on the other hand, AI can be leveraged to create and spread disinformation. One example of how AI is used for deception is the generation of deepfakes. Deepfakes are a growing concern for governments and industries because they can prompt disruption, foster dissent, create confusion, and erode public trust.

Here are five podcasts related to disinformation, misinformation and AI, Information Operations, and Information Warfare.

1. One CA: 229 - James Turner on Information Operations in Competition Part I

2. One CA: 230 - James Turner on Information Operations in Competition Part II

3. Irregular Warfare Podcast: Information Operations for the Information Age: IO in Irregular Warfare

4. Air Force Doctrine Podcast: Deciphering Doctrine - Ep 22 - Information Warfare functions, capabilities, and challenges in the digital age with Brigadier General Jonathan Rice

5. Center for Strategic & International Studies: Distrust of Everything - Misinformation and AI

Post 3

This timely research brief published by RAND Corporation addresses how DoD can leverage generative AI in its information operations and influence activities. It also highlights some of the challenges ranging from acquisition and end-user training to establishing an enterprise-wide strategy for implementation. Other notable issues referenced in the document include security risks as well as policy and ethical concerns.

When reviewing how the PLA may be intending to use AI to transform its military and warfare, from situational awareness and military decision-making to unmanned weapons and cognitive domain operations, the question to be asked is whether they genuinely have the capabilities today. I recommend reading this article by Colonel Koichiro Takag, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Chief of the Defense Policy Section J5, Japan Joint Staff.