Deceptively real fakes This is how internet users recognize deepfakes

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Fake news, fraudulent emails, dangerous viruses: The internet is full of dangers and misinformation. Increasingly, photos and videos manipulated with artificial intelligence, so-called 'deepfakes', are appearing. What exactly this entails, the dangers it poses to internet users, and how they can recognize deepfakes are explained by Alina Gedde, digital expert at Ergo.

What are deepfakes?

More and more people are using applications that rely on artificial intelligence to quickly and easily write texts, enhance photos, or just chat with a virtual conversation partner. However, the new technology also poses dangers such as so-called deepfakes. "These are images, videos, or audio files manipulated or created with AI that appear deceptively real and are hardly recognizable as forgeries," explains Alina Gedde, a digital expert at Ergo. "Therefore, they often enjoy high credibility and spread rapidly on the internet." A common tactic is to attribute words to celebrities that they never said. "This can be done for product advertising purposes. However, people are often also defamed or bullied, for example through AI-generated photomontages that seemingly show them in compromising situations," Gedde says. The alarming thing: with the right apps, anyone can quickly and easily create deepfakes today. "It is already punishable to photograph others without their consent. So anyone who forges or distributes photos or videos is on very thin legal ice," warns the digital expert. She recommends that parents also raise their children's awareness of the topic.

The dangers posed to internet users by deepfakes

Cybercriminals primarily use deepfakes to influence people's opinions, spread political propaganda, or cast public figures in a bad light. Con artists also use the technology to manipulate their voice on the phone to sound like a relative or acquaintance of their victim. "In this way, they try to obtain sensitive data such as account information or passwords. Fraud schemes such as the so-called grandchild scam become even more sophisticated through deepfakes," says Gedde.

Recognizing deepfakes

Computers, smartphones, and the like are becoming more powerful—and so are AI applications. Forgeries are therefore becoming increasingly difficult to expose. Gedde recommends that internet users pay attention to unusual curvatures of arms and legs, false proportions, oddly cast shadows, unnatural movements, and similar details in photos and videos. Human facial expressions and gestures are still a challenge for modern AI applications, and inconsistencies such as image distortions, differences in image sharpness and color, or lack of lip synchronization in videos often occur. "In fake audio recordings, the voice often sounds monotonous and tinny. False and unnatural emphases, as well as a choppy speech flow, can also be clues to a deepfake," says the digital expert from Ergo. She also recommends viewing suspicious photos on a large screen. Manipulations are easier to detect than on a small smartphone display. Often, a simple internet search can help uncover deepfakes. "If a seemingly sensational video does not appear on any reputable news site but only on dubious social media channels, it is most likely a deepfake," notes Gedde. Additionally, the web offers numerous fact-checking portals where users can find out about current deepfakes. Furthermore, it is essential, as always, not to believe everything and to view information with a healthy dose of skepticism—especially on the World Wide Web.