Technology, Disinformation, and Verification: Dangers & Solutions

This event will be held in person and online.

Event Summary

Misinformation and, more worryingly, disinformation, will always be concerns and dangers as long as humans have competing interests and motivations, but technologies have greatly enabled their reach and influence. Smartphones and social media platforms enable essentially everyone to accidentally (misinformation) or intentionally (disinformation) share false information widely--instantly. Generative AI presents great promise for useful work but is itself at risk of misinformation (hallucinations), and can be used to quickly create compelling disinformation--text, audio, images, and even video--that subvert our human inclinations to trust our eyes and ears. Combining quick, compelling generation of false information with quick, widespread sharing of it is a recipe for fueling polarization, and even conflict. Can technologies also come to the rescue and help simplify and even automate the identification of misinformation and disinformation, thus educating and promoting understanding, knowledge, and useful dialogue? How can you, and your business or organization, contribute to better practices and even better technologies to mitigate these dangers and their impact on your life, work, and society? Join us as Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau interviews a panel of experts in technologies, communications, and human behavior to shine a light on the growing risks and dangers, but also on the current best efforts and desired future solutions to improve accuracy and verification!

Registration and Attendance Instructions

In-person

Join us at the Austin Central Library, 710 W. César Chávez St. where you will be checked in at the front desk. Parking information can be found here.

In-person attendees, please join us from 5:15 to 6:15 for networking and food. We look forward to chatting with you face-to-face!

Virtual

You will also receive the virutal link in a reminder email one day before the event.

About the Speaker

Jay Boisseau, Executive Director, Austin Forum on Technology & Society and CEO, Vizias

Jay Boisseau is an experienced, recognized leader and strategist in advanced computing technologies, with over 25 years in the field. Jay is the executive director and founder of The Austin Forum on Technology & Society, which he created in 2006 and is the leading monthly technology outreach and engagement event in Austin--and now attracts national and international attendees online. The Austin Forum is one of the pillars of the Austin tech scene, providing connections to information, ideas, collaborations, and community overall. In addition, Jay is CEO, co-founder (June 2014), and a partner in Vizias, a small team of passionate professionals with expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), technology community building, and technology outreach & event planning. Vizias staff lead, execute, and support the Austin Forum through Vizias Research, Education, and Outreach, a non-profit dedicated to using technology for positive social impact. Jay has held previous leadership positions at Dell Technologies, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. He received his doctorate in astronomy from UT Austin, and his undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from the University of Virginia.