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DeepfakesDeepfake technology allows users to manipulate media using AI to produce fictional images, audio, and video. The term is a combination of "deep learning" and "fake," with the former referring to computers being taught to recognize complex patterns in data to produce realistic content.
Combined with a human intent to deceive, this technology most often involves replacing a real person's likeness with an artificial version of someone else. Users may also create realistic content entirely from scratch with the explicit goal of making others believe an untrue scenario.
The vast majority of AI-generated media do not qualify as deepfakes because they do not alter a known person or factual event. For example, prompting a text-to-image generator to create an image of a woman playing guitar would not be a deepfake, but modifying the prompt to place Taylor Swift's head on the body of the woman playing the guitar would not be true to life and therefore would be a deepfake.Explore Deepfakes
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Deepfakes came to prominence in the form of nonconsensual pornographyThe explosion of deepfakes depicting renowned people in both ridiculous and compromising videos has provoked widespread fears they will undermine public trust in authoritative knowledge. However, some scholars argue that real videos will always be distinguishable from deepfakes via the video-sharer's testimony and a broader social context. PsycheDeepfakes use AI to produce manipulated media to mislead viewersUnlike most content created from large language and diffusion models, deepfakes intentionally misrepresent real people or events with the intent to deceive. As the products of this technology become more realistic, they pose increasing risks to public trust, security, and privacy. 1440AI-generated avatars allow users to create deepfakes in real timeSynthetic media tools can map voices and faces to make individuals appear as someone else. Although they open the door to new opportunities in immersive education and entertainment, they also raise concerns about the misuse of personal identity. TEDTake a quiz to identify whether you can spot deepfakesAdvances in artificial intelligence have made deepfakes increasingly difficult to identify, as they are intentionally designed to appear real. The technology has exacerbated some of the problems brought on by digital editing tools like Photoshop. BBCMalicious use of deepfakes can be found in scams, misinformation, and disinformationArtificial neural networks can identify an individual's physical characteristics when provided with training data, such as real footage of the person speaking. Graphics techniques overlay these with matching characteristics from another real or generated person to create novel footage of things that have never taken place in reality. MicrosoftThe ease of deepfakes creation may soon overwhelm our sense of digital truthShortly after the public release of related technology in 2017, some experts saw the technical limitations of deepfakes as preventing them from becoming widespread tools of disinformation. Since then, the neural networks behind diffusion models and generative AI have eliminated the barriers to creating convincing synthetic media for propaganda. The AtlanticAudio deepfakes have fooled voice biometrics at banksLimitations in facial and body movements as well as mismatches between audio and lip movements can sometimes help flag a video as a deepfake, but removal of the video component significantly improves AI mimicry. Wall Street JournalOnce limited to expert studios, automated tools can create convincing deepfakesAlthough the best deepfakes are engineered using generative adversarial networks where systems compete to create and assess fake data until the two cannot be distinguished, simpler tools have allowed nonexperts to develop deepfakes for financial scams, political deception, and nonconsensual pornography. IEEESurreal backgrounds, asymmetry, and indecipherable text can help identify deepfakesDifferences in the backgrounds of training data with the same subject introduce variability, resulting in background textures and text that lack realistic detail. Difficulties with managing long-distance dependencies, the complexity of hair, and other real-world phenomena introduce errors that can be used to flag AI-generated content. MediumDeepfake videos impersonating real doctors are spreading false medical adviceMore than 100 videos, found primarily on Instagram and TikTok in August 2025, promoted products related to beauty, wellness and weight loss. While TikTok removed 94% of content violating its policies on AI-generated content, these deepfakes were watched and shared before removal, undermining public trust in medicine. CBS NewsDeepfake pornography poses significant challenges in combating sexual abuseIn 2017, 96% of deepfake videos involved image-based sexual abuse, which has disproportionately targeted minority women, LGBTQ individuals, adolescents and celebrities. Cultural norms, misogyny and AI advancements have contributed to the proliferation of explicit deepfake content. University of PennsylvanieAudio deepfake tools can now impersonate anyone in real timeA cybersecurity company developed a tool that mimics a person's voice with no noticeable delay using only publicly available software, hardware, and voice samples, allowing users to have seemingly authentic conversations while pretending to be someone else. IEEE SpectrumThe story of serial killer Ed Gein who inspired pop cultureThe creators of antagonists from "Silence of the Lambs" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" took notes from this horrifying Wisconsinite's story, known for body-snatching and creating keepsakes from corpses. Crime, Conspiracy, Cults, and MurderThe 'Penicillin Girls' made mass production possibleIn Oxford during the early 1940s, six female technicians—later dubbed the “Penicillin Girls”—worked long hours tending mold cultures and extracting tiny amounts of penicillin. Smithsonian MagazineDeepfake Tom Cruise goes viralTom Cruise isn’t on TikTok. But you might think that he actually does have an account on the service if you came across the TikTok deepfakes of the actor that have gone viral. They’re the work of a visual and AI effects artist named Chris Umé and a Cruise stand-in, actor Miles Fisher, who already bears a vague resemblance to the actor. Watch what happens after Cruise’s face is superimposed onto Fisher’s. TikTokWatch LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman interview his deepfake doppelgängerLinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman created an AI doppelgänger of himself in 2024 that was fed a sample of his voice and trained on his books and other writings and speeches. In this conversation, his deepfake version attempts to replicate human mannerisms, including scratching their nose and getting distracted. BloombergWatch Billy Joel deepfake himself in the 'Turn the Lights Back On' music videoThough deepfakes are often synonymous with manipulation and bad intentions, some artists have found creative uses for the technology. In this example, Billy Joel depicts himself in various eras of his career in keeping with the song's nostalgic message. Billy JoelIn China, deepfaking a dead loved one has become a growing industryDigital replicas of the deceased provide individuals with another way to process grief in a culture with long-standing traditions of communicating with ancestors. The emotional and ethical implications of "digital immortality" are complicated further by cases of actors impersonating deceased relatives during deepfake video calls to hide their deaths. MIT Technology ReviewDeepfake potential ranges from destabilizing democracies to improving accessibilityThe technology can revolutionize education, medicine, and art through actions such as helping a disabled person express themselves. However, fictional audio and video can also jeopardize a person's reputation and life or quickly spread misinformation, even without content being flawless recreations. Brave New PlanetWarren Buffett has worried that AI might end up being as consequential as the development of the nuclear bombBerkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett is one of the many people who’ve come face-to-face with the downside effects of AI, and in particular, deepfakes. He was recently shown a deepfake of himself in a video, which caused him to worry about how bad actors will take advantage of the technology. CNBCListen to a deepfake robocall of President Joe BidenBad actors are not solely using deepfake technology to manipulate images. They can also manipulate audio for political purposes. In this example, eligible voters are asked to skip the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic primary. The TelegraphIn 2024, deepfake audio of London Mayor Sadiq Khan nearly caused real-world disorderThe audio included incendiary remarks related to the ongoing Palestinian protests and played on the public's preexisting political biases. The technology has since destabilized the concept of truth in elections, where politicians blame the use of real gaffes on AI and deepfakes to spread misinformation. Washington PostGovernments are now using generative AI to manipulate public opinionA Freedom House report found that AI-powered disinformation campaigns and censorship tactics are spreading, with 16 countries utilizing the technology to shape online narratives or suppress dissent, as of 2023. In Venezuela, deepfake software was used to push pro-government propaganda with fake news anchors. MIT Technology ReviewExplore a deepfake speech of an alternate reality where Apollo 11 failedAs the Apollo 11 astronauts prepared for their journey to the moon, two speeches were drafted for President Richard Nixon: one to be delivered upon the astronauts' success and another to comfort the public in case of failure. This interactive explores the creation of a believable version of the latter. In Event of Moon DisasterDigital re-aging and de-aging of faces in film and TV has become increasingly commonTraditional techniques for accomplishing this process were slow and labor-intensive, and often required manual frame-by-frame edits, forcing them to be reserved for "hero characters" and close-up shots. Deep learning methods used by Disney and other production companies now provide fully-automatic and production-ready methods to produce such deepfakes for entertainment purposes. DisneyResearchHubTest your ability to identify AI-generated imagesThis interactive project from MIT challenges users to distinguish between AI-generated images and real ones. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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