Weavers of Truth

The unprecedented rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and particularly of Large Language Models (LLMs) forced scholars and educators to reconsider and renegotiate open questions about truth, reality, authority, trust, and (mis)information. In other words, AI and LLMs allow us a unique opportunity to ask ourselves what it means to be a communicating and thinking human being. In this talk, Yotam Ophir will briefly explain what LLMs are, how they are developed and by whom (and with what implications), and discuss what the rise of chatbots and automated agents means for the already dire misinformation crisis. The talk will conclude with a consideration of ethical and responsible ways to move forward as we come to grips with the growing role of this novel technology in our lives. 

Please note, this webinar is at 10 a.m. EST

About Yotam Ophir
Yotam Ophir (PhD, Univ. of Pennsylvania, 2018) is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University at Buffalo. He studies political and science communication, with a focus on media effects, persuasion, misinformation, conspiracy theories and extremism. Dr. Ophir’s work was published in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), and Journal of Communication (JOC). His book “Misinformation & Society” was published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2025, and his co-authored book, Democracy Amid Crisis, was published in 2022 by Oxford University Press. Dr. Ophir is the head of the Media Effects, Misinformation, and Extremism (MEME) lab, is a member of UB’s Center for Information Integrity and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, and is a distinguished fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2024, he was selected as one of 10 “Early Career Scientists to Watch” by Science-News Magazine. In 2023, he received the “Exceptional Scholar: Young Investigator Award” from the University at Buffalo and in 2025 the SUNY's Chancellor’s Horizon Award for Faculty Research and Scholarship.