Course Content
Phase 1: The SIFT Protocol (Source Verification)
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Lesson 1.1 The Neurology of the Pause
Lesson 1.2 The Four Moves: SIFT Deep Dive
Lesson 1.3: Domain Forensics & The Wayback Machine
Lesson 1.4: Tracking “Pink Slime” & Syndication Networks
Phase 2: Data Forensics & “Calling Bullshit”
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Lesson 2.1 The Bad Science Audit
Lesson 2.2: The Fermi Estimation Check (Mental Math)
Lesson 2.3 Commercial Bias: The “Bad Pharma” Audit
Lesson 2.5 The Denominator Blindspot (How to Lie with Truth)
Lesson 2.6 Auditing Authority: The “Official Source” Trap
Lesson 2.7 The Autocrat’s Playbook: 20 Signs of Sliding
Lesson 2.8 The “Boring Truth” Doctrine
Lesson 2.9 The “Strategy of Tension”
2.10 The “Drug War” Smoke Screen: Narrative vs. Reality
2.11 The “Free Speech” Shield: Opinion vs. Incitement
Phase 3: Logic & Argument Analysis
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Lesson 3.1: Propositional Logic (Beyond the Syllogism)
Lesson 3.2: The Principle of Charity (Steel-Manning)
Lesson 3.3: Cognitive Biases 2.0 (Motivated Reasoning)
Phase 4: Digital Investigation (The OSINT Toolkit)
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Lesson 4.1: Reverse Image Search 3.0 (Yandex, Baidu, TinEye)
Lesson 4.2: Geolocation Basics (Mapping the Territory)
Lesson 4.3 Deepfake Detection (The Glitch List)
Lesson 4.4 (Part 2) – Video Forensics
Lesson 4.5 Lazy Journalism: The “Quote as Fact” Trap
Lesson 4.6 The Anatomy of a Disinfo Tweet
Lesson 4.7 THINK TANKS & THE “EXPERTISE” INDUSTRY
Phase 5:The Capstone (The Million Dollar Audit)
We tell the story of Sholto David not as a "news story," but as a Case Study in Tradecraft. He used the exact skills we just taught (Visual Forensics, Source Verification, Institutional Audit) to expose a massive lie and get paid for saving the taxpayer money.
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5.1 The $2.6 Million Audit (Case Study: Sholto David)
TRADECRAFT: The Intelligence Analyst’s Guide to the Internet

TRADECRAFT: Deepfake Detection (The Glitch List)

The Concept

AI image generators (like Midjourney and DALL-E) are incredible, but they don’t “understand” reality. They just predict pixels. Because they lack understanding, they make logical errors that a human painter never would. We call these “Glitches.”

THE CHECKLIST: The “Glitch List”

Scan every suspicious image for these five errors.

1. The Hands (The Classic Glitch)

  • The Error: AI struggles with counting. Look for 6 fingers, disappearing fingers, or fingers that merge into coffee cups.

  • The Check: Zoom in on every hand. If it looks like a claw or a blob, it’s AI.

2. The Eyes (The Soul Check)

  • The Error: In real life, pupils are perfectly circular. In AI, they are often jagged or slightly different shapes (one oval, one round).

  • The Catchlight: Look at the white reflection in the eyes. It should be in the same spot in both eyes (e.g., top left). If one eye reflects a window and the other reflects a lamp, it’s fake.

3. The Text (The Gibberish)

  • The Error: AI can generate a “Sign,” but it rarely spells words correctly (yet).

  • The Check: Look at street signs, logos on t-shirts, or book titles in the background. If it looks like an alien language or blurry scribbles, it’s AI.

4. The Accessories (The Meld)

  • The Error: AI confuses layers.

  • The Check: Look at glasses and jewelry. Do the frames of the glasses disappear into the skin? Does the earring turn into a strand of hair? Real physical objects don’t merge.

5. The Skin (The Plastic Look)

  • The Error: AI skin is often too smooth.

  • The Check: Real humans have pores, tiny wrinkles, and imperfections. If the skin looks like polished wax or airbrushed plastic, be suspicious.

LAB EXERCISE: Real or Robot?

Task: Go to ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com.

  1. Refresh the page 5 times.

  2. The Hunt: On each face, find the “Glitch.”

    • Is the background warping?

    • Is there a weird “ghost person” next to them?

    • Are the earrings mismatched?

  3. The Verdict: Once you see the “AI Gloss,” you can’t unsee it.

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