Can you trust what you see online in an era of AI generated content? Deepfakes are on the rise. What is a deepfake? Deepfakes are created media generated by AI to mimic faces, gestures, and voices to make people say and do things they’ve never actually done. We’ve spent countless hours scrolling through videos and audio clips where we’ve always relied on one rule: if you can see it and hear it, then it happened. But as we go through 2026, this rule is being rewritten more and more everyday by deepfakes. In the future, people might stop believing real videos online which can lead to people getting away with bad things they’ve actually done.

The impact goes way beyond just confusing the public. Deepfakes are being used by scammers to trick people and it can be devastating for the victim whose identity was used without their consent. There has already been a scam where deepfakes of individuals such as Elon Musk or Kim Kardashian are frequently used in advertisements to promote fake crypto currency platforms or investment sites. This cost the victims millions. Unfortunately, human detection alone isn’t enough anymore. In today’s world we need more than just a gut feeling to determine if something is real. Currently, as the rise of deepfakes increases there are multiple softwares being used to detect if something is AI generated.

In order to stay safe in an era of AI generated content, we will have to change how we interact with true media. Some of these ways include verifying your source, checking for facts, looking for flaws, and learning digital literacy skills. In our time, it’s no longer what is happening, but instead can you trust what you see online? Schools are now teaching students these skills to be able to navigate through this new world. As AI continues to evolve we need to stay skeptical and informed to protect the digital truth.