What a deepfake is
Launch library · evergreen read
A deepfake is synthetic media, typically video or audio, generated or altered by computer techniques to make a person appear to say or do something they never actually said or did at all. The term combines deep learning, the technique often used to produce them, with the older idea of a simple fake, and the two together now describe a rapidly evolving problem.
What makes deepfakes distinct from earlier forms of manipulated media is how convincing they can look and sound to an untrained eye, since the underlying techniques are built specifically to mimic natural movement, expression, and voice with steadily growing precision over recent years, narrowing the gap with genuine footage.
Because a fabricated clip can spread faster than any correction ever could, healthy scepticism toward sensational or highly emotional video, combined with checking whether reputable outlets have verified it, remains one of the more reliable defences available to an ordinary viewer without specialist tools or training of their own.