Firms cautioned against deepfakes, AI-driven misinformation

Artificial intelligence. Photo: Jobaaj Learnings

Communication experts have urged Nigerian organisations to prepare for deepfakes and AI-driven misinformation before a crisis hits by updating their crisis plans, setting rules for their own AI use, and building strong, credible reputations.

 The experts spoke at a webinar titled Safeguarding Brand Reputation in Nigeria’s AI Era: Preparing Organisations for Deepfakes, Synthetic Media and AI-Driven Misinformation. The event, organised by MSc Media and Communication students of the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, was held virtually via Microsoft Teams on 25 September 2026, drawing 107 participants.

 Delivering the keynote, a Scaling Data and Tech Innovation Specialist, Adenike Aloba, said, “AI has changed the conditions in which reputation is managed more than it has changed the fundamentals of reputation management.”

 Aloba urged communicators to be involved whenever their organisations deployed AI. “Communicators should be in the room at conception, not at crisis,” she said.

 She warned, “You cannot outsource your brand strategy to AI.”

 The panel featured the Chief Executive Officer of Xlr8 Limited and pioneer Head of Public Relations at MTN Nigeria, Calixthus Okoruwa; the General Secretary of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos Chapter, Samuel Adeyemi; and the Divisional Director at Marketing Edge, Anietie Udoh.

 The panel also featured CapitalSage Holdings’ Group Head of Marketing and Communications, Ilabeshi Gabriel, and Dr Oludare Ogunyombo of the Department of Mass Communication, Olabisi Onabanjo University. Bemigho Awala served as the moderator. Ogunyombo summed up the challenge. “Nothing has changed, but a lot has been added,” he said.

 Okoruwa said AI made a crisis management framework “even more necessary, even more pertinent.”

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 Gabriel described how his organisation governed its use of AI, saying, “We will not say we won’t use it, but we need to know the limitations and guide against it.”

 In a live crisis simulation titled The Deepfake Drill, the panel handled a fictional fake video of a bank’s managing director announcing withdrawal limits.

 The panel recommended that Nigerian organisations add deepfake scenarios to their crisis plans, rehearse them regularly and form a cross-functional response team before any crisis occurred.

 When a fake appeared, the panel advised organisations to assess its reach and harm before responding because “speed does not mean panic.”

 It said organisations should then debunk the fake quickly and keep reassuring stakeholders for weeks afterwards because “trust is not a feeling, it is a process.”

 The panel also urged organisations to set clear policies on how staff used AI tools and handled sensitive data.

 Speaking on behalf of the organising team, Ololade Adeniji said, “We can’t stop people from faking things, but we can always be ready.”