AI-generated content is flooding the information environment around the conflict in Iran.  

Fueled in part by Iranian state-linked propaganda and well-known influence campaigns such as Operation Overload, and compounded by a lack of on-the-ground information due to internet shutdowns and broader Iranian censorship, the conflict stands out for the widespread use of misrepresented and fabricated images. 

Speaking with the Associated Press, ISD Senior Director of Policy & Research, Information Operations, Melanie Smith, said the growing volume of AI-generated content is making it increasingly difficult to identify reliable information. 

“The inability to get access to verified and credible information in times like this — it’s getting harder and harder to do that,” she said, adding that state actors “have a very clear kind of narrative structure and the videos are just used to support some kind of statement they want to make about the conflict and about the kind of geopolitical situation writ large.” 

Iran is also using AI-generated images to promote antisemitic narratives. WIRED featured ISD research into the rise of accounts in a pro-regime propaganda network on X sharing AI-generated posts depicting Orthodox Jews leading U.S. soldiers to war or celebrating American deaths. 

Bret Schafer, ISD Senior Director for Information Operations, spoke to BBC about the unprecedented nature of this state-led AI propaganda campaign. 

“While the use of AI-generated content in war propaganda certainly isn’t new, the use of AI forgeries by major state media outlets, even those that don’t exactly have a reputation for adhering to the truth, is striking,” Bret said. “Iranian state media’s repeated use of deepfakes suggests that this is a feature of their war reporting rather than a bug.” 

The full articles are available on AP, BBC and WIRED.