Artificial Intelligence and Political Deepfakes: Shaping Citizen Perceptions Through Misinformation

In the post-truth age, political conspiracies circulate rapidly on social media, cultivating false narratives, while challenging the public’s ability to distinguish truth from fiction. ‘Deepfakes’ represent the most recent type of misinformation. They display deceitful representations of events to lead audiences to believe in fabricated realities. There has been limited research on deepfakes in political communications. As this technology progresses, deepfakes look deceptively authentic; thus, it is necessary to explore their effects on public perceptions. This study examines viewers’ comments on an Instagram-published deepfake video of Hillary Clinton to understand the impact of this technology. The results demonstrate that individuals struggle to identify deepfake videos and that their opinions are affected by this persuasive type of misinformation. This study also explores different ethical concerns posed by political deepfakes. By offering insights into public reactions to manipulated content, this study contributes to our understanding of the political effects of AI-fabricated content.