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Deepfakes and dissent: How AI makes the opposition more dangerous

Former US National Security Council advisor Fiona Hill has plenty of experience dealing with dangerous dictators – but 2024 is even throwing her some curveballs.

After Imran Khan upset the Pakistani establishment in February’s elections by using AI to rally his voters behind bars, she thinks authoritarians must reconsider their strategies around suppressing dissent.


Speaking at a Global Stage panel on AI and elections hosted by GZERO and Microsoft on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, she said in this new world, someone like Alexei Navalny “would've been able to use AI in some extraordinary creative way to shake up what in the case of the Russian election is something of a foregone conclusion.”

The conversation was part of the Global Stage series, produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft. These discussions convene heads of state, business leaders, technology experts from around the world for critical debate about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.

Watch the full conversation here: How to protect elections in the age of AI

More from Global Stage

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How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft.

Is the Europe-US rift leaving us all vulnerable?

As the tense and politically charged 2025 Munich Security Conference draws to a close, GZERO’s Global Stage series presents a conversation about strained relationships between the US and Europe, Ukraine's path ahead, and rising threats in cyberspace.

As development funding shrinks, can AI fill the gap?

At the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Robert Opp, Chief Digital Officer at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), explores whether artificial intelligence can help countries make progress amid growing development challenges and shrinking resources.

Live Premiere | Global Stage: : Live from the AI for Good Summit | Thursday, July 9 | 11 am ET5 pm CEST | gzeromedia.com/globalstage

Watch our Global Stage live premiere from the AI for Good Summit on Thursday

At this year's AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, our Global Stage panel discussion focuses on how AI can help humanitarian institutions serve people at greater scale — and what stands in the way. Join us on Thursday, July 9th at 11am ET/5 pm CEST to watch the live premiere.

Empowering local communities using AI

At the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Frederic Werner, AI for Good co-creator and chief of strategic engagement at ITU, explains why optimism about artificial intelligence is growing across many developing countries even as skepticism rises in Europe and North America.

The mental health impact of a world at war

Global humanitarian needs are rising sharply – right as the systems designed to respond to them are facing the deepest funding cuts in years. At a recent UN event focused on the wellness of aid workers, GZERO’s Tony Maciulis spoke to experts, including Rajabi and Michel Saad, a deputy director at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who leads efforts in the Middle East and North Africa.