AI and Disinformation: Approaches, Risks, Impacts, and Governance

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping today’s information environment, and one of the clearest ways it is doing so is through its contribution to the production and propagation of disinformation. Its influence is not confined to how disinformation spreads. AI also shapes the narrative around disinformation itself, with consequences for public discourse, politics, journalism, and the relationship between citizens and government. While AI makes communication more efficient and opens space for creative solutions, it also introduces challenges tied to manipulation, opacity, the erosion of transparency, the loss of trust in our information infrastructure, and the wider undermining of the democratic process.

This Research Topic will offer an interdisciplinary analysis of the role AI plays in the contemporary dynamics of disinformation, structured around two objectives. The first will be to build a conceptual and methodological foundation for examining AI-driven disinformation from multiple perspectives, covering both the technical side of generating false content and the socio-communicative and political consequences for individuals and for society at large. The second will be to identify and evaluate the specific risks this creates, including the unequal distribution of disinformation across communities and the deterioration of trust between the stakeholders involved in the communication process.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation, Synthetic Media, Information Integrity, AI Risks, Algorithmic Governance, Socio-Technical Systems, Data Governance, Media Ecosystems, Public Discourse, Artificial Intelligence Accountability

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.