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Lecture Description: This opening lecture introduces AI-Enhanced Reflexive Control (AIRC)—a framework explaining how AI scales and modernizes Soviet-era psychological warfare into a system of unprecedented manipulation. Drawing on data from the GCRD–Sensika Disinformation Observatory, including a detailed case study of Russia’s Pravda network targeting Bulgaria (December 2024–April 2025), participants explore how AIRC operates across multiple dimensions such as computational content generation tailored to cultural contexts, predictive audience modeling that identifies psychological vulnerabilities and dynamic narrative evolution that adapts to events while preserving strategic goals.  The session reveals how these operations reshape the informational environment itself—producing second-order effects in which targets feel autonomous while being steered toward predetermined outcomes.

Dr. Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob is Founding Executive Director of the Global Centre for Rehumanising Democracy (GCRD), where he leads initiatives including the Democracy Discourse Index, Disinformation Observatory, and civic renewal programs. His recent research on AI-Enhanced Reflexive Control, including analysis of Russia’s Pravda network in Bulgaria (co-authored with Georgi Angelov), reveals how artificial intelligence transforms Soviet-era psychological warfare into systematic manipulation of vulnerable democracies. His work spans peace journalism in conflict zones, communication for social change with UNICEF and the UN, and globally connected pedagogy linking students across continents. A scholar and a Benedictine Spiritual Director, Dr. Jacob brings both technical expertise and personal urgency to questions of democracy’s survival and education’s role in defending democracy.