{"id":41989,"date":"2020-02-10T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T17:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clearvoice.com\/resources\/how-to-spot-deepfakes\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T17:51:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T00:51:04","slug":"how-to-spot-deepfakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clearvoice.com\/resources\/how-to-spot-deepfakes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Spot Deepfakes and Fake News: Tips and Detection Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a deepfake? In essence, it’s a video altered using the latest AI showing someone saying or doing something they\u00a0never\u00a0<\/em>said or did. Quality runs the gamut, but the best deepfakes are virtually indistinguishable these days, posing potential threats to our democracy and the trust we have in media institutions around the world. Here are tips on how to spot deepfakes and fake news.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let’s start with a quick scenario that describes the habits of millions of Americans \u2014 if not millions across the world. You\u2019re on lunch break, mindlessly scrolling through your Facebook or Twitter feed, lapping up the news of the day. Suddenly, you come across a video shared by a friend or acquaintance. Possibly even someone you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

The headline is unbelievable. You watch the video twice. It feels 100 percent real and passes every sensory test imaginable. The content itself? It shows someone saying something outrageous, politically damaging or caught in a\u00a0hot-mic moment<\/a>. It\u2019s too good to pass up and just dropped, so you can be one of the first to share it. Social media gold.<\/p>\n

You’d wait, but you don\u2019t have time to verify the content\u2019s original source and because it reinforces notions you already believe in, you decide not to do any honest vetting because your eyes and ears don\u2019t lie \u2014 and hey, you have a team meeting in 10 minutes. You share it \u2014 because why not \u2014 to hear the disbelief pour in, one comment at a time.<\/p>\n

Thousands of others have done this at the same time \u2014 spreading the video to hundreds, thousands, if not millions of people at once. In minutes. On a whim.<\/h3>\n

Only thing is: The video is fake. Bogus. A fraud. But nobody knows it yet because the quality is superb \u2014 it\u2019s passed through everyone\u2019s B.S. detectors and collective common sense. But now, instead of being a friend in-the-know who scooped everyone else with this unbelievable story, you\u2019ve essentially become the ‘Outbreak’ monkey. Digital edition.<\/p>\n

Of course, you pull it down eventually after finding out it’s fake (if that fact is even verifiable), but it’s already generated tons of engagement and left an indelible mark on all those who consume, comment and share the video before the discrediting ever happens. And who knows, they might not even find out that it is discredited at all… Damage done.<\/p>\n

To this hypothetical scenario \u2014 which unfortunately happens all the time \u2014 we all let out a collective gasp.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the era of deepfakes. Because this is where we are. As a culture, a society, a human race.<\/h3>\n

Deepfakes are no longer just game for\u00a0tech tricksters<\/a>\u00a0skilled in the use of Adobe Photoshop or After Effects. The technology has gotten easier to use, more accessible and automated to the extent where algorithms do a lot of the work for you. Lately, fear has crept up regarding their ability to do everything from\u00a0weaken democracy<\/a>\u00a0to spark doubt prior to elections.<\/p>\n

Curious how real they’ve gotten? Check out these\u00a0people who don\u2019t actually exist<\/a>. Each face is a total fake, generated using the kind of AI employed to render deepfakes: generative adversarial networks\u00a0(GANs).<\/p>\n

So, how do we avoid deepfakes, cheap fakes (the less sophisticated counterparts of deepfakes) and the spread of fake news in an era where seeing isn’t necessarily believing? Especially when social media behemoths Twitter, Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram are only now\u00a0starting to address<\/a>\u00a0these not-so-fake problems?<\/p>\n

It’s true that a great way to prevent the spread of misinformation is through education, restraint and a massive awareness of what this threat entails. But that itself might not be enough in the face of bad actors.<\/p>\n

Facebook recently came out to say\u00a0they will ban deepfakes<\/a>, but not cheap fakes like the doctored video that circulated last year of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which garnered millions of views in 48 hours.<\/p>\n

How to deter deepfakes from spreading<\/h2>\n

Much like not driving drunk or pointing a loaded handgun, there are things we can do to minimize damage and avoid unintended consequences. Actionable tips that can help prevent the spread of doctored content, misinformation or fake news in the digital AI era.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n