Rand Waltzman Speaks on The Future of Cognitive Defense
Cognitive warfare involves the weaponization of public opinion to influence policy and destabilize institutions, with emotional
manipulation playing a key role. Virtual Reality Environments (VREs), such as Meta’s Metaverse, present new opportunities for such
manipulation due to their immersive features like presence and embodiment, which intensify emotional engagement. These environments enable the exploitation of emotions for influence, as demonstrated in psychological therapies and experiments where VREs elicited powerful emotional responses, including fear and self-transcendence.
Adversaries can use VREs to manipulate public sentiment, foster violence, or distort perceptions, making users vulnerable to deceptive narratives. The integration of advanced biometric tracking within VREs enhances this threat, allowing real-time profiling and emotional exploitation on an unprecedented scale. To counter these risks, it is critical to develop defensive strategies, including cataloging manipulation techniques, advancing detection capabilities, and creating specialized organizational structures to support a strong cognitive defense. While VREs offer potential benefits, proactive measures are essential to mitigate their misuse for harmful cognitive
attacks.
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- Date: 27 Jan 2025
- Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM
- All times are (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
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- Starts 16 December 2024 12:00 AM
- Ends 27 January 2025 12:00 AM
- All times are (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Rand
Rand Walltzman Speaks on The Future of Cognitive Defense
Dr. Waltzman speaks eloquently and presents the audience with many concrete examples highlighting the importance of the disinformation threat and the need for what he calls “cognitive security” encouraging our democratic societies in the West to manage the environment, be proactive, and out-compete those who spread disinformation. In every meeting, the speaker challenges his audience, whether government representatives, journalists, academics, young political leaders, students, EU officials, as well as diplomats, to become more aware of the massive threat posed by disinformation and to think out of the box when it comes to offering solutions. This lecture provides an opportunity for vivid discussions and proves the need for more exchanges on the subject.
Biography:
Dr. Rand Waltzman is an adjunct senior information scientist at the RAND Corporation where he recently led a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project on the next generation of manipulation, influence and deception in immersive environments. Waltzman previously served as acting chief technology officer at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute in Washington DC and as the DARPA program manager responsible for the Social Media in Strategic Communications program. His areas of expertise include bot detection, influence operations, disinformation, machine learning, and digital communications.
Rand Waltzman: Computer science / Artificial Intelligence professional with a history of success in conceptualizing, developing and prototyping novel and innovative analytical and software solutions to real world problems. 40 years of experience performing and managing research in Artificial Intelligence applied to domains including social media and cognitive security in the information environment. Particular interest in massive scale data analysis in support of decision and analysis problems. Strong background in data science and the application of massive scale data analysis, automated reasoning and knowledge management techniques combined with sophisticated mathematical models to problems that have resisted conventional solution techniques. Drawn to problems that require analysis in a larger context and understanding of the broader implications of a solution.
Agenda
Talks Starts at 6 PM Pacific Time