Fortifying Truth in the Age of Deepfakes: Lessons from Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, ex-Director of Witness

Tech Matters

“Seeing is no longer believing. You need to fortify the truth.” (Y.A.T.)

Generative AI, deepfakes… we’ve known the risks for a while, but the dangers feel ever closer given the amazing advancements of orgs like OpenAI. Meanwhile, human rights activists have faced these risks for years (think of doctored videos, misleading evidence, or the total absence of context).

Witness was ahead of its time by giving people tools to document human rights violations (departing from conventional notions of “acquiring data”) and prioritizing authenticity, personal security, and safety, particularly through its focus on human rights use cases. This issue of authenticity is a major one: Despite the ongoing challenge of combating weaponized misinformation and disinformation, organizations like Witness have been navigating all the complexities of trust - trusting the source, but also trusting those who are making the tools to document the truth, especially across cultural and social barriers.

Yvette is an advisor/consultant/board member, and previously Executive Director of Witness, with decades of experience leading org design and ecosystem thinking at the intersection of human rights, video, and technology. Tune in to hear about how she has been addressing the issue of trust and authenticity in media!

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