Have you seen the crazy deepfakes of “Barbie” star Margot Robbie? There’s one of her scrubbing a floor that looks so real, it’s shocking.
If that one was new to you, I’m sure you’re familiar with the infamous deepfake Tom Cruise that took the internet by storm. That one was so successful it spawned an entire deepfake company. Or maybe you remember when the Pope was walking around in a hip puffer jacket. Nah, wasn’t him.
From speeches of world leaders to clips of our favorite celebrities, deepfake videos are everywhere you turn. There are tried and true ways to pick them out. I’ll walk you through six tactics to help you become a deepfake super sleuth.
1. Face shape is a dead giveaway.
In a deepfake, measurements and proportions are typically off, even if it’s ever so slightly. The ears are the most challenging part of the face to fake, so start there.
Pro tip: Hit pause on the video and see if the structure of the face feels “off.” Your brain can perceive this pretty well since we look at real faces so often.
2. Go to the source.
Is that social media vid the real thing or a clone with a different message? Find the original footage.
Pro tip: Search related keywords on Google and social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. If you’re struggling with ways to search, you can even take screenshots of critical parts of the video and do a reverse image search.
3. Watch the mannerisms and expressions.
They’re as unique as their fingerprints. President Obama’s signature head lift and slight frown were present whenever he’d say “hi everybody” in his weekly addresses. If the star of your video in question seems like an impersonator, they very well could be.
Pro tip: Watch a few videos of the person in the potential deepfake and compare.
4. Look deep(fake) into their eyes.
Along with ears and face shape, deepfakes aren’t the best at eyes. Eye alignment is especially tricky to duplicate.
Pro tip: Pause and check out a still frame of the video. Hit pause a few times to see if both eyes look in the same direction.
5. Look for glitches.
Deepfakes are the most convincing when the subject is facing the camera head-on. Once a person starts to turn to the side and move around, the glitches start glitching.
Pro tip: Note any points where the AI-generated face slips off the real person in the footage. It’s crazy when you catch it!
6. The mouth isn’t moving right.
Our mouths move in specific positions when we make different letter sounds. These shapes are tricky to match with an AI overlay. In fact, researchers found that roughly a third of deepfake videos can’t match M, B and P sounds.
Pro tip: Watch carefully. In a deepfake, the mouth may make the wrong shape, failing to match the audio.