AI is undermining OSINT’s core assumptions. Here’s how journalists should adapt

Join the Aspen Policy Academy mailing list to learn more about us and our fellows (you’ll receive one email a week).

{"action":"swipe","clientId":"d86babba-dc52-40eb-9ec9-7dff058f458a","controls":["submits"],"property":"newsletter","recipients":"","receipts":"","rules":[],"subject":""}

{"type":"email","format":[{"label":"month"},{"label":"day"},{"label":"year"},{"label":"hour"},{"label":"minute"}],"filetypes":[],"options":[],"title":"Email Address","description":" ","placeholder":"","helper":false,"abilities":["required"],"beacons":[],"preset":"","identifier":"email_address","evaluate":[],"minimum":0,"maximum":200,"expression":"^[a-zA-Z0-9.]{2,}@[a-zA-Z0-9]{3,}\\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$","count":1}

Email Address

{"type":"input","format":[{"label":"month"},{"label":"day"},{"label":"year"},{"label":"hour"},{"label":"minute"}],"filetypes":[],"options":[],"title":"First Name","description":" ","placeholder":"","helper":false,"abilities":["required"],"beacons":[],"preset":"","identifier":"first_name","evaluate":[],"minimum":0,"maximum":200,"expression":"(.|\\n){1,}?","count":1}

First Name

{"type":"input","format":[{"label":"month"},{"label":"day"},{"label":"year"},{"label":"hour"},{"label":"minute"}],"filetypes":[],"options":[],"title":"Last Name","description":" ","placeholder":"","helper":false,"abilities":[],"beacons":[],"preset":"","identifier":"last_name","evaluate":[],"minimum":0,"maximum":200,"expression":"(.|\\n){1,}?","count":1}

Last Name

{"type":"check","format":[{"label":"month"},{"label":"day"},{"label":"year"},{"label":"hour"},{"label":"minute"}],"filetypes":[],"options":[{"label":"I want to learn how to change policy"},{"label":"I am a journalist"}],"title":"Focus","description":"Description of field","placeholder":"","helper":false,"abilities":["multiple"],"beacons":[],"preset":[],"identifier":560589180,"evaluate":[],"minimum":0,"maximum":200,"expression":"(.|\\n){1,}?","count":1}

Focus

Description of field

{"type":"check","format":[{"label":"month"},{"label":"day"},{"label":"year"},{"label":"hour"},{"label":"minute"}],"filetypes":[],"options":[{"label":"Washington DC area"},{"label":"New York City area"},{"label":"San Francisco Bay area"},{"label":"Los Angeles area"},{"label":"I'm in another location"}],"title":"Select your location","description":"Description of field","placeholder":"","helper":false,"abilities":[],"beacons":[],"preset":[],"identifier":420344510,"evaluate":[],"minimum":0,"maximum":200,"expression":"(.|\\n){1,}?","count":1}

Select your location

Description of field

Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox for our next weekly newsletter!

{"abilities":[],"action":"stack","className":"","columns":3,"controls":[],"exclude":[],"include":[{"custom.menu":"header-menu"}],"maximum":6,"property":"header","orders":["date","title","menu_order","post_type","post__in"]}

{"abilities":[],"action":"stack","className":"","columns":3,"controls":[],"exclude":[],"include":[{"custom.menu":"header-menu"}],"maximum":6,"property":"mobile","orders":["date","title","menu_order","post_type","post__in"]}

AI is undermining OSINT’s core assumptions. Here’s how journalists should adapt

Article Published December 12, 2025

This article originally appeared on the Reuters Institute website on December 12, 2025.

By Georgia Edwards, Zuzanna Wojciak, and Influencing AI from the Outside alum Shirin Alren

The fast evolution of generative AI makes it increasingly easy to create visual content that looks indistinguishably real. As AI-generated content mimics authentic scenes and locations, open-source investigators face a new challenge: verifying what’s “real” in a world where reality itself can be fabricated.

With the release of advanced video generation models like Veo 3 and Sora 2, generative systems can now create entire moving sequences from text, images, or other audiovisual inputs. As these models advance, the boundary between authentic footage and AI-generated fabrication will become more difficult to discern.

Read the Full Article

{"abilities":[],"action":"swipe","className":"wide","columns":3,"controls":["arrows"],"exclude":[{"starter.postid":"28418"},{"default.postid":"26818"}],"filters":[],"include":[{"starter.termid":"111"},{"starter.termid":"231"}],"maximum":6,"meta":[],"property":"box","searching":"","sorts":[{"ordering.label":"date","evaluation.label":"\u2193","display":"Most Recent","label":"date \u2193 Most Recent"}],"sorting":[{"ordering.label":"date","evaluation.label":"\u2193","display":"Most Recent","label":"date \u2193 Most Recent"}],"orders":["date","title","menu_order","post_type","post__in","relevance"],"filtering":"","refiner":false,"total":55}

Aspen Policy Academy

AI is undermining OSINT’s core assumptions. Here’s how journalists should adapt

Browse Related Articles

How AI and Tech Are Changing The Campaign Finance Game

In Pentagon-Anthropic standoff, AI is real-time testing the balance of power in future of warfare

How to Manage Misinformation in Large Language Models