The NATO Strategic Communications Excellence Centre (NATO StratCom COE) is organising its annual conference, “Emerging Trends in Social Media,” in Rīga on October 8, 2024. The focus will be on aspects of the digital information world, seeking to promote debate about the rapidly changing environment of the social media and the influence which artificial intelligence (AI) has on it. The conference gathers a broad range of participants each year. This year more than 250 have registered, and this includes a broad range of expertise from government representatives to TikTok spokespeople. The programme will include topics such as the role of AI in the communications of the social media, the future of TikTok, the influence of the social media on elections in the United States, etc.
“This conference is an important platform for discussions about trends in artificial intelligence and the social media from a strategic perspective,” says Jānis Sārts, the director of the NATO StratCom COE. “Sadly, people have been too slow to realise the manipulative nature of the information space on the social media; folks don’t understand the extent to which these platforms influence public opinion. The conference focuses on analysis of how artificial intelligence is altering the present-day information environment, particularly emphasising those areas in which it has revealed social weaknesses. The rapid development of AI technologies has confirmed that people must learn more and from their mistakes so as to make successful use of the potential of AI in protecting democracy.”
The NATO Strategic Communications Excellence Centre has been organising the conference since 2017. Each year it brings together professionals from various sectors such as governments, the academic environment, the military and the NGO sector. The aim is always to inform those who take strategic decisions about various aspects of the digital information world. Artificial intelligence will be the central factor this year, with two of the conference’s panel discussions being devoted to it. The use of AI in the social media creates broad opportunities, especially in terms of improving strategic communications, but it also creates risks. It can ensure greater creativity in content, improve personalisation, provide valuable data and facilitate audience involvement, but AI also makes it much easier to create and spread disinformation, to make such disinformation hard to recognise, and to destroy trust in democratic institutions.
Delegates at the conference will also discuss digital management by examining the present-day and future influence of social media platforms. There will be a discussion about the future of TikTok with representatives of the social network on hand. The event will conclude with a debate about the upcoming election in the United States, particularly focusing on potential disinformation campaigns on the social media which can have an effect on the election and its results
“Emerging Trends in Social Media 2024” will be held on October 8 at the “Daile” Music Centre at Kr. Barona Street 31 in Rīga, Latvia. More information can be found at the official homepage of the conference, socmediatrends.org. People from the media are asked to apply for accreditation by writing to simona.lucatniece@statcomcoe.org.
The NATO Strategic Communications Excellence Centre is an international and NATO-accredited military organisation. It plays an important role in improving the strategic communications skills of NATO, its member states and its partners. The centre is located in Rīga, Latvia.