IntelBrief: AI-Powered Disinformation in the Israel-Hamas War and Beyond

Bottom Line Up Front

• The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has brought with it a slew of false or misleading information — including AI-powered imagery.
• Disinformation and other forms of manipulated information have proliferated online, compounded by fake media accounts, the reusage of old imagery, deliberate disinformation campaigns by state-backed/aligned actors, and other malign information efforts.
• An overall increase in AI-powered disinformation has been noted since the public gained widespread access to large language models (LLMs) and other generative AI tools in late 2022, with malicious actors seeking to run their influence campaigns in a more efficient and less resource intensive manner.
• AI-powered disinformation will impact several upcoming elections in 2024, including in the U.S., where the creation of false or misleading content with LLMs is likely to lead to high quantities of efficient false content which may have significant offline implications if used for highly vitriolic narratives or calls to violent action.