American University Washington College of Law paper examines legal gray zones created by AI-enabled information operations in armed conflict
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2026 — Law & Forensics LLC congratulates expert consultant Gary Corn on the publication of "Cognitive Warfare: Generative AI, False Realities, and International Humanitarian Law," a research paper published in the Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series at American University Washington College of Law (Paper No. 157, April 2026). The paper examines how generative artificial intelligence — including deepfake image, audio, and video technology — has created significant legal gray zones that existing international humanitarian law (IHL) frameworks have not yet addressed. (Source)
The paper, drafted as a chapter for the Lieber Institute for Law & Land Warfare's forthcoming volume on international law and artificial intelligence in armed conflict, analyzes GenAI's capacity to produce synthetic content that is "highly deceptive and manipulative" and to transform information operations "from a labor-intensive process with limited scope and reach into automated operations capable of significantly reshaping the information environment" at unprecedented speed and scale. Corn argues that while these capabilities pose serious risks to civilian protection under IHL, GenAI-based information operations remain largely unregulated under existing legal frameworks. (Source)
The Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series, published jointly by American University's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) and Corn's own Technology, Law & Security Program (TLS), focuses on the intersection of emerging technologies, intellectual property, privacy, and security with law and policy.
The paper adds to a growing body of scholarship by Corn at the cutting edge of AI and armed conflict law. His other recent publications include a two-part series on non-state cyber actors in the Israel-Iran conflict published by the Lieber Institute at West Point (July–August 2025), and chapters in the third edition of National Security Law and the Constitution (Aspen Publishing, 2025) addressing the digital dimensions of national security law. Corn is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he advises the Technology and National Security program.
" Generative AI has fundamentally altered the cognitive battlefield, and the law has not kept pace. This paper tries to map where the gaps are and what legal tools — if any — currently apply to AI-enabled information operations in armed conflict," said Gary Corn.
" Gary's scholarship on AI and international law is essential reading for anyone advising on the legal risks of emerging technologies in national security contexts," said Daniel Garrie, Co-Founder of Law & Forensics. "That analytical depth is precisely what distinguishes Law & Forensics expert consulting from generalist advice."
The paper is available at the American University Washington College of Law Digital Commons. (Source)
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