The AI4Debunk consortium gathered from March 12-13 in the charming city of Riga, the hometown of our project coordinator, the University of Latvia. This marked our first in-person meeting, bringing together 14 partners from eight European countries.
The first day opened with a prestigious conference at the Saeima, the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia: “AI for Debunking Disinformation”. Distinguished speakers, including parliamentarians, academics, journalists, and the Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, debated their perspectives on disinformation and the dangers it poses to modern democracies. This high-level exchange underscored the urgency and relevance of our project, as innovative solutions are needed to fight disinformation and its far-reaching impacts. The recording of the full session (with English voice-over) is available here.
The second day was filled with collaborative discussions among all consortium partners, focusing on aligning our efforts and initiating the project’s implementation. We reviewed the status of ongoing activities, set out a clear roadmap for the next phases of the project, and proactively addressed potential challenges.
In addition, we had the pleasure of hosting Francesco Saverio Nucci, Director of the Sustainable Society Lab at Engineering Group, for an insightful online session dedicated to sharing experiences and results of EU-funded projects on AI against disinformation. Francesco walked us through invaluable lessons from FANDANGO (2017-2020), offered a glimpse into the ongoing Titan (2022-2025), and anticipated what the future holds for AI-CODE (2024-2027). AI-CODE is AI4Debunk’s sister project, funded under the same Horizon Europe topic “Through AI from Disinformation to Trust (IA)” (HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-05).
These two days were an invaluable opportunity to connect, share expertise, and reinforce our collective commitment to combating disinformation and fostering a more resilient and informed society through human-centered AI-powered tools.
This first in-person meeting has laid a strong foundation for the future, and we are excited to see the progress we will make together in the coming months.
