What are deepfakes?

A deepfake is media, usually video, audio, or a photo, that has been generated or altered by artificial intelligence so a person appears to say or do something they never did. The tools are now inexpensive and fast, which means the volume of synthetic content is rising, not the difficulty of making it.

Most deepfakes people encounter are not political. They are ads with a familiar face, a fake investment endorsement, or a message that sounds like a relative. Knowing the category exists is what slows you down long enough to check.

• Edges around hair, glasses, or teeth look soft or smeared
• The mouth and audio drift slightly out of sync
• Lighting on the face does not match the background
• The account posting it was created recently or has few real followers

1. 1Pause before reacting to any emotionally charged clip
2. 2Look for the same story from a second, independent source
3. 3Check the original account and posting history
4. 4Search a key phrase from the clip to see if it has been fact checked

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