The Illusion of Truth: How Deepfakes Are Undermining Elections and Public Trust

We used to think reality was something we could see and hear with our own eyes and ears. Now, artificial intelligence can make fake videos and audio that look and sound almost real — and people often believe them without questioning. Deepfakes aren’t just about swapping faces or mimicking voices. They’re being used to create entire false scenes, fabricated events, and misleading statements that appear to come from real people. When voters see something that looks authentic — especially something involving a political figure — their trust in what’s happening gets shaken. The truth gets buried under what looks like truth. And once a deepfake goes viral, it’s hard to undo.

This isn’t just a tech problem. It’s a trust problem. People are already conditioned to accept what they see online, especially when it’s shared quickly on social media. Deepfakes exploit that instinct — they don’t need to be convincing in every detail. Just enough to make someone pause and think, “Could this be real?” That moment of doubt is exactly what bad actors want. Once a false narrative spreads, it can shift public opinion, fuel anger, or damage confidence in leaders and institutions — all before anyone has a chance to verify the facts.

How Deepfakes Are Made and Used

• AI-Powered Fabrication: Deepfakes are built using AI tools that learn from real videos, photos, and audio. These models study how someone moves, speaks, or reacts — and then generate new content that looks like they’re speaking or acting in real time. The result is a video or audio that seems genuine, even though it was made from scratch.
• Layered Manipulation: Creators often combine several techniques. They might take a real video, alter it with AI to show someone doing something they never did, or generate fake audio using tools like ChatGPT that sound like real conversations. These layers make the deception more convincing and harder to spot.
• The ‘Situation Deepfake’ Threat: Some deepfakes don’t just copy a person — they invent full scenarios. These are complete, staged events that never happened — like a politician making a secret deal or a public figure admitting wrongdoing. They’re designed to feel real, to match the tone and context of real political moments, and to play into existing fears or beliefs.

Even if a deepfake is quickly debunked, it can already have influenced how people think — especially if it spreads fast on social media. The more people share it before fact-checking, the more it shapes the conversation. And once a false story takes root, it’s not just about correcting the record — it’s about rebuilding trust in what’s real.

We can’t rely on technology alone to stop deepfakes. People need to learn how to spot them — not just by looking for obvious signs, but by asking questions. And platforms that host this content must do more to flag, limit, and remove false material before it spreads. Real democracy depends on people being able to see through the illusion — not just believe what they see.