Wael Abd-Almageed grew up between Cairo and Alexandria, shaped by injustice, driven by a fierce belief in ethics, and determined to use his engineering mind to do more than build systems. He wanted to defend the truth. At USC’s Information Sciences Institute, he’s done just that.

From early work in biometrics to pioneering efforts in deepfake detection, Wael’s mission has remained clear: use AI not to deceive, but to protect. When a manipulated video of Ukraine’s president began circulating, his team’s tools exposed it as a fake.

That wasn’t a one-off. It was part of an urgent, ongoing effort to defend democracy, dignity, and the line between fact and fiction.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Wael reflects on the social cost of polarization, the artistic precision of good code, and why AI must be built with empathy—not just algorithms.