IBS Speaker Series: Kacper Gradon

Join in person at IBS 155 or via Zoom, email ibs-contact@colorado.edu for the password.
*Light lunch served at 11:45 a.m.

Title: “Question everything. Trust no one”? Towards the integrated prevention of disinformation.

Bio: Dr. hab. Kacper Gradon, Ph.D., D.Sc. is the Kosciuszko Fellow, Fulbright Professor and Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of Behavioral Science, CU Boulder. He is also an Associate Professor in Cybersecurity (Warsaw University of Technology, Poland) and the Honorary Associate Professor at University College London Department of Security and Crime Science (United Kingdom). At CU Boulder, he pursues his research in the application of crime prevention programs to the detection and mitigation of disinformation campaigns. He is the World Health Organization Global Infodemic Manager, Fulbright Senior Award Scholar and the recipient of The Kosciuszko Foundation Fellowship. His area of expertise is disinformation, hybrid and information warfare, Generative Artificial Intelligence applications in security, human-centric dimensions of cybersecurity and Future Crimes. He has been frequent consultant of law enforcement agencies and intelligence institutions worldwide. He presented at over 200 conferences on all continents and is a triple TED(x) speaker. He held visiting professorships at CU Boulder, University College London, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY), University of Southern California, University of Greenwich, Memorial University of Newfoundland and at law-enforcement academies, such as the Portland Police Department Training Division and Indian National Police Academy in Hyderabad. He can be reached at: kacper.gradon@colorado.edu and k.gradon@ucl.ac.uk

Abstract: This IBS Talk will highlight the most recent and burning threats associated with disinformation, malign propaganda, conspiracy theories and anti-science movements and will showcase the potential solutions aimed at the prevention, interdiction and mitigation of these problems. Proliferation of disinformation poses a significant threat to democratic institutions, international partnerships and alliances, public health, and individual well-being. Disinformation exacerbates societal divisions and is leveraged by a wide range of actors to achieve their objectives, especially during the times of high-profile events and crises (elections, mass migrations, famine, natural disasters, military conflicts, periods of unrest). Recent political events in the United States, the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization, the rising role and power of Big Tech Executives in the Federal Government, the liquidation of fact-checking safeguards on social media and the disruptive potential of Artificial Intelligence (deep fakes) exacerbate these challenges and necessitate the immediate counteraction on the side of the research community and civil society. The presentation will open the discussion on the creation of the interdisciplinary Working Group of Disinformation Prevention at the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder.