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Shirin Anlen

Shirin Anlen is an award-winning creative technologist, artist, and researcher. She is a media technologist for WITNESS, which helps people use video and technology to defend human rights. WITNESS’s “Prepare, Don’t Panic” Initiative has focused on global, equitable preparation for deepfakes.

Articles

Man sits at his work computer setup where he's seen using video editing software
The Synthesis: Before the First Cut—When AI Decides What We Edit
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Screenshot of a desktop menu for an Adobe AI product with headings that include "Generative Fill," "Generative Expand," and "Firefly Upscaler"
The Synthesis: AI Enhancement Isn’t Assistance—It’s Reconstruction, And That Changes Everything
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A CGI-rendered Kool-Aid-looking juice jug stands on a stage at a convention with men with lanyards looking in the audience
The Synthesis: Valerie Veatch Connects AI and Eugenics in ‘Ghost in the Machine’
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A monitor shows a film project being cut using editing software
The Synthesis: Can AI—or documentary—get us closer to human authenticity?
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Bright purple backdrop featuring a digital image of a lightbulb where a genAI image of Pikachu is surrounded by cops
The Synthesis: How Sora 2 Mainstreams the Collapse Between Irony and Information
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Overhead shot of a shopping center with logos and slogans.
The Synthesis: Raoul Peck on Using AI to Critique Authoritarianism in ‘Orwell: 2+2=5’
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A figure sits on a concrete slab in an arid landscape.
The Synthesis: ‘Deepfaking Sam Altman’ Director Adam Bhala Lough Says Documentarians Should Get Good Lawyers
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An AI-generated image of a blue flag.
The Synthesis: We Must Protect Human Creativity from Being Flattened by AI
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An AI-generated video of a factory floor with glass walls and a man in a black suit holding a floating red ribbon.
The Synthesis: Here’s What Happened When We Prompted Sora With Taglines From Oscar-Winning Documentaries
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An illustration of the see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil monkeys against a yellow background.
The Synthesis: All Bets Are Off for AI and Documentary—It’s Time for a Reset
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A woman leans back against a chair.
The Synthesis: Piotr Winiewicz on the “Surprisingly Ordinary Dreams” Generated by AI in His IDFA Opening Film
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A Venn diagram with 'AI+Documentary' in the middle.
The Synthesis: AI Is Everywhere, Even in Your Documentary
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