On the occasion of Safer Internet Day 2023 celebrated on February 7, here’s how you can spot a deepfake and stay safe on the interwebs
Deepfakes often show signs of blurring or pixelation around the edges of the subject's face, particularly around the mouth and eyes
Deepfakes can struggle to recreate the complex movements of human faces, such as blinking, smiling and speaking. This can result in an unnatural or robotic look
Deepfakes may have mismatched audio, where the audio does not match the movements of the subject's mouth or may have an obvious artificial quality to the voice
In some deepfakes, the background may appear static or frozen, with no movement, even when the foreground is moving
Deepfakes can struggle with consistent lighting, and the subject's face may look different from one frame to the next
Check for unusual artifacting, such as jagged edges, shimmering or flashing, that may indicate that the video has been tampered with
If you notice repeated patterns, such as the subject's hair or clothing appearing the same way in multiple frames, it may indicate that the video has been artificially generated
Consider the context of the video and whether it makes sense given what you know about the subject and the situation
Look for any AI-generated watermarks or logos, which may indicate that the video has been created with artificial intelligence