Deepfake
A deepfake is realistic synthetic or manipulated audio, imagery, or video that depicts a person or event differently from what actually occurred. The term is often associated with machine learning, although usage varies. A deepfake is a media artifact; believing it, remembering it, or sharing it are separate responses that need separate evidence.
Term statusEmerging Concept
A term in research or professional use whose meaning still varies across fields. About these labels.
Evidence for the claims on this page: Experimental evidence within defined tasks
The cited studies examine particular political videos and outcomes. Results about memory, uncertainty, and voting intentions should be kept separate.
How to read this assessmentWhat it is
Deepfake is a widely used but variably bounded term for highly realistic synthetic or manipulated media, often created with machine learning, that depicts people or events in ways not supported by the source record. (Vaccari and Chadwick, 2020)
In everyday language
It can make a person appear to say or do something they never said or did.
What it isn't
Not all synthetic media is a deepfake, and a deepfake is the artifact—not its psychological effect.
An example
A generated video appears to show a public figure giving a speech they never delivered. It remains synthetic even if viewers know it is a parody.
Key features
- Realistic representation
- Computational synthesis or manipulation
- Often concerns identity or event authenticity
How it relates to synthetic imprinting
A deepfake is one kind of content researchers might study. The existence of a convincing clip does not establish that it changed anyone's memory or beliefs.
Research context
Research examines detection, credibility, uncertainty, trust, political effects, and governance. (Vaccari and Chadwick, 2020; Murphy et al., 2025)
A closer look at the cited studies
| Research question | How do homemade political deepfakes compare with text and cloned audio? |
|---|---|
| Participants | 443 Irish residents recruited initially; 300 Prolific participants completed the follow-up. |
| Design and comparison | An online experiment compared formats of fabricated political stories and measured reported memory, opinions, voting intentions, suspicion, and detection. |
| Measured findings | Reported false memory was higher for the paid deepfake than for text. Political outcomes varied by story and measure; formats were not equivalent across all outcomes. |
| Timing and follow-up | Invitations went out one week after debriefing; the survey remained open five days. Previously presented and new false stories both had low memory-report rates. Political comparisons were not statistically significant. |
| Limits on interpretation | One national context, selected stories, and incomplete follow-up limit generalization. Nonsignificant political differences do not rule out small persistent effects; the authors discuss that possibility. |
Related terms
Sources and what they support
- Deepfakes and Disinformation: Exploring the Impact of Synthetic Political Video on Deception, Uncertainty, and Trust in News — Cristian Vaccari, Andrew Chadwick (2020). Social Media + Society, 6(1).
Peer-reviewed research. An experiment examining deception, uncertainty, and trust after exposure to synthetic political video.
- An Average Joe, a Laptop, and a Dream: Assessing the Potency of Homemade Political Deepfakes — Gillian Murphy, Didier Ching, Eoghan Meehan, John Twomey, Aaron Bolger, Conor Linehan (2025). Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Peer-reviewed research. Compares political misinformation formats and follows up after debriefing. Memory and political outcomes varied; nonsignificant follow-up political differences do not rule out small persistent effects.
Cite this definition
SyntheticImprinting.com Editorial Project. (2026-09-27). Deepfake. Version 1.4. SyntheticImprinting.com. https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/deepfake/
APA: SyntheticImprinting.com. (2026). Deepfake. https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/deepfake/
MLA: “Deepfake.” SyntheticImprinting.com, 2026, https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/deepfake/. Accessed November 12, 2026.
Chicago: SyntheticImprinting.com. “Deepfake.” Last modified 2026-09-27. https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/deepfake/.
Revision history
- Version 1.4 · Current
Added claim-level citations and a separate assessment of evidence support. The opening definition is unchanged.
Read this version’s definition
A deepfake is realistic synthetic or manipulated audio, imagery, or video that depicts a person or event differently from what actually occurred. The term is often associated with machine learning, although usage varies. A deepfake is a media artifact; believing it, remembering it, or sharing it are separate responses that need separate evidence.
- Version 1.3
Expanded the opening definition; added explicit boundaries, source context, related-term cards, and linked editorial attribution.
Read the previous definition
A deepfake is realistic synthetic or manipulated audio, imagery, or video that depicts a person or event differently from what actually occurred. The term is often associated with machine learning, although usage varies. A deepfake is a media artifact; believing it, remembering it, or sharing it are separate responses that need separate evidence.
- Version 1.2
Definition recorded in the previous release. Earlier edits are not reconstructed here.
Read the previous definition
A deepfake is realistic synthetic or manipulated audio, imagery, or video that depicts a person or event differently from what actually occurred.
What the status means
Emerging Concept
A term in research or professional use whose meaning still varies across fields.
How evidence labels workHelp improve this entry
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