Future Fuzz - The Digital Marketing Podcast Ep. 169 - AI, Influence & Brand Survival - Dan Lowden
In this episode of Future Fuzz, Vince Quinn sits down with Dan Lowden, Chief Marketing Officer at Blackbird.ai, to unpack one of the fastest-growing threats facing organizations today: narrative attacks driven by disinformation, misinformation, and deepfakes.
Dan explains how AI has dramatically lowered the barrier to creating convincing false content that can manipulate stock prices, damage brand reputation, target executives, and even threaten national security. He introduces the concept of Narrative Intelligence—a new category identified by Gartner—as a proactive way for companies to detect harmful narratives before they spiral out of control.
The conversation explores how organizations should respond when false narratives gain traction, why real-time data is critical for crisis decisions, and how cross-functional “fusion centers” are becoming essential in managing modern reputation risk. They also discuss the upside: how brands can identify and amplify positive narratives to build trust and loyalty.
If you care about brand protection, crisis management, AI risk, or the future of trust in the digital age, this episode is essential listening.
Guest Bio
Dan Lowden is the Chief Marketing Officer at Blackbird.ai, a leading Narrative Intelligence company that helps organizations detect and mitigate disinformation-driven narrative attacks.
With over two and a half years at Blackbird.ai, Dan plays a key role in educating enterprises, government agencies, and global organizations about the emerging threat of AI-powered misinformation, deepfakes, and coordinated narrative manipulation.
Under his leadership, Blackbird.ai has helped define and lead the newly recognized category of Disinformation Narrative Intelligence, empowering companies to proactively identify harmful narratives across social media, news, and the dark web—before they cause financial, operational, reputational, or physical harm.
Takeaways
- AI has dramatically lowered the barrier to creating convincing deepfakes and disinformation.
- Narrative attacks can cause financial, reputational, operational, and even physical harm.
- A single post can evolve into a large-scale narrative across multiple platforms.
- You cannot rely on social platforms to “take it down” once a narrative spreads.
- Real-time narrative intelligence enables faster, more strategic crisis decisions.
- Companies are forming cross-functional “fusion centers” to respond to modern reputation threats.
- Authenticity and trust are fragile—one bad narrative can undo years of brand equity.
- Positive narratives should be identified and amplified strategically.
- Brands must earn trust consistently; inauthentic behavior gets exposed quickly.
- Knowing the full narrative landscape (positive, neutral, negative, harmful) creates both protection and opportunity.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Dan Lowden and Blackbird.ai
00:34 What Is Narrative Intelligence?
02:18 Why Disinformation and Deepfakes Are Exploding
03:56 The Rise of AI-Powered Narrative Attacks
05:30 Why Companies Must Take This Threat Seriously
07:29 How Organizations Should Respond to False Narratives
09:48 The Importance of Real Data in Crisis Decisions
10:46 Identifying and Leveraging Positive Narratives
13:37 Authenticity, Trust, and Brand Vulnerability
16:38 The “Fusion Center” Approach to Crisis Management
18:13 How to Learn More About Blackbird.ai
19:14 Final Thoughts on Trust in the AI Era
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