Quad Should Build Cognitive Shield Against AI Deepfakes

2025-10-07 12:01:21

(MENAFN- Asia Times) The Indo-Pacific's democracies face a systemic threat transcending military domains through the weaponization of synthetic reality. State adversaries can now leverage AI-driven disinformation to destabilize elections, inflame social tensions and paralyze crisis response, directly challenging the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The current tactical focus on detecting individual deepfakes is an inadequate response to this strategic challenge. Instead, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, must pioneer a new form of collective defense by formally recognizing our shared information environment as cognitive infrastructure-a critical asset that must be secured.

This initiative is the perfect mission for the Quad precisely because of the group's geopolitical complexities. While differing threat perceptions and commitments to strategic autonomy can complicate cooperation on hard security issues, defending against a universal, non-kinetic threat like systemic disinformation is a foundational goal where the interests of all four nations align.

The speed, scale and realism of generative AI have fundamentally changed how information flows. This isn't an upgrade on old-school propaganda; it's the industrialization of deception. A US National Security Agency (NSA) threat assessment concurs, warning that the“democratization” of these tools has made them“widely available for adversaries of all types.”

Deepfakes didn't just grow in 2023-they exploded. Global incidents jumped tenfold. The Asia-Pacific saw 1,530% growth in reported deep fakes.

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