As the 21st century global socio-economic order embraces artificial intelligence (AI), a new type of video called a deepfake has emerged, which uses the same technology to mimic the appearance and sound of an actual video or audio recording, even when the events depicted never happened. These convincing yet fake videos often show public figures making false statements, apart from placing someone’s face into another person’s body, or even replicating a person’s voice to deliver messages they never spoke. In short, a tech-powered weapon that will only increasingly get used by threat actors in the coming days, to pull off online crimes.
Also, deepfakes are being used to spread political lies, manipulate financial markets, and even give fake medical advice that could put people’s lives at risk. For example, AI-generated “doctors” have appeared on TikTok, dispensing dangerous health guidance, complete with a fabricated backstory and digitally generated faces.
Deepfakes are already appearing on social media feeds and can be broadcast on television news segments. Experts warn that they could even make their way into commercial advertising, blurring the line between marketing and manipulation. And as technology keeps getting better, these mischievous acts will only get harder to spot and stop. However, no crime is perfect, and even the most sophisticated deepfakes usually contain subtle errors that, upon observation, can reveal their true nature.
Watch The Eyes, Not The Mouth
Eyes are surprisingly hard to fake properly. In deepfake videos, people may blink too little, too much, or in weird patterns. Sometimes the eyes look lifeless, like they’re staring through the camera instead of reacting to the moment. If something feels “off,” but you cannot explain why, it is often the eyes.
Check The Lighting And Shadows
Lighting usually gives deepfakes away. Shadows might fall in the wrong direction or change slightly when the face moves. The skin might look evenly lit, even when the environment should not allow it. Real lighting is messy. Fake lighting is often too clean.
Look Closely For Facial Glitches
This part takes a second viewing. Watch the edges of the face, the jawline, and around the hair. You might notice blurring, warping, or tiny glitches when the head turns. Sometimes the skin looks too smooth, like a filter that forgot to turn off.
Pay Attention To Lip Sync
Deepfakes are better at syncing lips now, but they still slip. Words might land a fraction of a second late, or the mouth shapes do not fully match the sounds. If you mute the video and watch the mouth, the mismatch becomes more obvious.
Notice How The Head And Body Move
Faces get all the attention, but bodies are harder to fake. The head might move unnaturally stiff, or the neck does not move quite right. Sometimes the face moves independently of the body, which your brain notices even if you don’t consciously think about it.
Listen To The Voice Carefully
Voices can sound flat, robotic, or emotionally wrong. Pauses may feel unnatural, or emphasis lands in strange places. Even when the voice sounds realistic, something about the rhythm can feel slightly off.
Watch Emotional Reactions
This is a big one. Real emotions are messy. Deepfakes often miss micro-expressions, those tiny reactions that happen before someone speaks. The smile comes too late. The anger feels rehearsed. The face doesn’t fully match the moment.