AI deepfakes don’t have to be flawless. They have to look believable enough to make you react. We spoke with CNET reporter Katelyn Chedraoui about where deepfakes are now—and what gives them so much potential as vehicles for disinformation. Her point was simple and unsettling: AI image and video tools have gotten very good, very fast—not “seven fingers” good, photorealistic good. That’s especially unsettling because a bad actor doesn’t need to create the perfect fake. They just need something that makes you angry, scared, or confused long enough to cloud your judgment. That can be a video; a robocall; a text about a polling place changing. Sometimes the most effective deception is also the most mundane. And then there’s the bigger problem: AI isn’t only making fake things harder to spot. It’s also making real things easier to doubt. Co-hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss the recent U.S. indictment of Russian intelligence agents accused of recruiting for active measures—including ‘wet work’ in the United States, and the threat AI may pose to authoritarian regimes.

<p>AI deepfakes don&rsquo;t have to be flawless. They have to look believable enough to make you react. We spoke with CNET reporter Katelyn Chedraoui about where deepfakes are now&mdash;and what gives them so much potential as vehicles for disinformation. Her point was simple and unsettling: AI image and video tools have gotten very good, very fast&mdash;not &ldquo;seven fingers&rdquo; good, photorealistic good. That&rsquo;s especially unsettling because a bad actor doesn&rsquo;t need to create the perfect fake. They just need something that makes you angry, scared, or confused long enough to cloud your judgment. That can be a video; a robocall; a text about a polling place changing. Sometimes the most effective deception is also the most mundane. And then there&rsquo;s the bigger problem: AI isn&rsquo;t only making fake things harder to spot. It&rsquo;s also making real things easier to doubt. Co-hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss the recent U.S. indictment of Russian intelligence agents accused of recruiting for active measures&mdash;including &lsquo;wet work&rsquo; in the United States, and the threat AI may pose to authoritarian regimes.</p>

From the Pell Center at Salve Regina University and the creators of the Active Measures Newsletter, a weekly dive into the latest trends in political warfare, influence, and information campaigns. 

<p>From the Pell Center at Salve Regina University and the creators of the Active Measures Newsletter, a weekly dive into the latest trends in political warfare, influence, and information campaigns. </p>

A weekly dive into the headlines in the Active Measures Newsletter from the Pell Center at Salve Regina University.

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast

This episode examines how generative AI, deepfakes, synthetic media, and AI-powered propaganda are reshaping elections, political warfare, and public trust. Jim Ludes, Mark Jacobson, and CNET reporter Caitlin Shadrawi discuss how bad actors use AI to create and spread convincing misinformation—and how people can verify what they see, hear, and believe. It works because it distills a complex topic into a clear, urgent takeaway: AI doesn’t just make fake content more believable—it can make real content harder to trust.