Philip Di Salvo
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Item type:Publication, Artificial Intelligence Inherits a Past. A Conversation with Gabriele Balbi(2026-07)n this interview, Prof. Gabriele Balbi reflects on the historical and material condi- tions of contemporary artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on his work as a media historian, the conversation resists the prevailing tendency to apprehend the present moment in AI as historically unprecedented and instead situates the current “summer” of generative AI within the longer trajectory of digitalization, the platform economy, and the cycles of hype through which “revolutionary” technologies have repeatedly been announced and absorbed. From this perspective, Balbi argues that generative AI is less a rupture than a continuation: heir to the fi- nancialization, extractivism, and ideological framings of earlier digital formations, it can know only what has already been written, even as it promises to author the future. The conversation considers the political economy of the major AI platforms, the materiality of computation, the geographies of innovation beyond the Sino-American duopoly, and the paradox of a technol- ogy that announces the future while reinstating the extractive logics of the nineteenth century.Type:journal articleJournal:Quaderni di Teoria SocialeVolume:2026Issue:1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Turning OSINV inside the machine: Open-source investigations and information disorderOpen-source investigators and OSINV journalists have spent the last decade turning publicly available data into evidence of war crimes, environmental harms, and human rights abuses. More recently, they have trained the same lens on a different target: the algorithms, bot networks, and generative AI systems that industrialise deception and information disorder. Moving beyond debunking and verification, this reporting investigates the infrastructures that make falsehood profitable and visible, a turn four case studies here demonstrate.Type:journal articleJournal:Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Hacking and information disorder: the weaponization of leakingThis essay examines the dual role of leaks as both a journalistic tool and a vehicle for propaganda, with a focus on state-sponsored hack-and-leak operations. While leaks have traditionally served investigative journalism, the rise of cyberattacks and disinformation has redefined their role within the broader context of information disorder. Hack-and-leak operations leverage authentic documents obtained through cyberattacks, releasing them tactically to shape media narratives, foster doubt, and undermine targets. Unlike conventional disinformation campaigns, these operations weaponize real information, aligning with the concept of “malinformation.”Footnote1 State-sponsored hackers play a critical role by introducing “tainted leaks” (Hulcoop, A., Scott-Railton, J., Tanchak, P., Brooks, M., & Deibert, R. (2017). Tainted leaks: Disinformation and phishing with a Russian nexus. The Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy & University of Toronto. https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/d45f78d4-e53e-409a-b81f-5bba4689b442/content) that blend genuine and falsified content to deceive the public. Journalists face ethical challenges when covering such leaks, as they must balance public interest with the risk of amplifying malicious agendas. In essence, hack-and-leak operations threaten journalistic credibility, information integrity, and democratic processes. By exploiting the perceived “authenticity” of leaked materials, these operations erode trust in media and public institutions. This essay underscores the importance of understanding the nuanced relationship between “real” and “fake” in leak-driven disinformation, highlighting the need for strategies to mitigate their broader impact on the digital public sphere.Type:journal articleJournal:Critical Studies in Media Communication - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, “We Have to act Like our Devices are Already Infected”: Investigative Journalists and Internet Surveillance(2022)Type:journal articleJournal:Journalism PracticeVolume:16Issue:9Scopus© Citations 27