Sam Gregory

Sam Gregory is a human rights advocate and technologist fighting on the front lines against deepfakes and deceptive AI, and in defense of truth and fact. He drives cutting-edge approaches to preserve trust, authenticity, and evidence in our increasingly complex digital landscape. A recognized authority on audiovisual communication and deception, and on the use of video and technology to advance human rights, he has testified before both the US House and Senate on AI and media transparency and is a TED speaker whose talk outlines the necessary steps to fight back against malicious and deceptive AI.

As Executive Director of WITNESS, he spearheads their strategic plan to "Fortify the Truth," championing a global team supporting millions to use video and technology for human rights. WITNESS received the inaugural Peabody Global Impact Award in 2024 for “media or organizations that have profoundly changed the world for the better” and for its work “tirelessly championing the power of emergent media technologies in defense of human rights around the world.”

In 2018, he launched the "Prepare, Don't Panic" initiative, a WITNESS-led global effort to tackle the challenges of deepfakes and generative AI. This pioneering work has directly influenced platform policies, legislation, and public debate on emerging technologies, and also includes the only global Deepfakes Rapid Response Force, connecting journalists with media forensic experts to expose AI-powered deception. Alongside this, WITNESS is now engaging with how an AI-mediated communications environment changes or challenges practices and paradigms of frontline human rights and journalistic work.

Sam has served on the ICC Technology Advisory Board, co-chaired key initiatives and working groups for the Partnership on AI and the C2PA, and is a sought-after expert for media outlets like WIRED, CBS and the New York Times.  He taught the first-ever course at Harvard on participatory media and human rights, was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School, and in 2024, completed his PhD at the University of Westminster focused on participatory media, AI, and trust.