Erin Crosby blog post #2

One topic that stood out to me today was deepfakes. Before learning about them, I knew that artificial intelligence could create fake pictures and videos, but I did not realize how realistic they could actually be. During the class presentation today, we were shown different videos and social media posts and asked to determine which ones were real and which ones were deepfakes. I honestly could not tell which videos or posts were deepfakes and which ones were real. This was probably the part of the presentation that surprised me the most because I realized how easily I could believe something that was completely fake.

One example from our class that really stood out to me was an activity my group did where we created an image that showed a “spotting” of Kylie Jenner and Brad Pitt at a Knicks game. Even though we knew the image was not real, it looked believable enough that someone who saw it without any context could potentially think it actually happened. This made me realize how easy it could be for someone to create and share a fake image of celebrities or other people. While our group created the image just for the class activity, someone could create something similar with an intentionally harmful purpose, such as spreading a false rumor, damaging someone’s reputation, or making people believe something that never happened.

Deepfakes use AI to manipulate images, videos, or audio so that it appears someone said or did something that they never actually did. After learning more about them, I started thinking about how much I rely on what I see online. I usually assume that if I see a video or picture of something, it actually happened. However, learning about deepfakes made me realize that I need to be more careful about automatically believing or sharing things I see on social media.

Overall, learning about deepfakes made me think differently about digital media. The biggest thing I took away from this topic is that seeing something does not always mean it is true. Since I could not even identify the deepfakes during our class presentation, I know that I need to be more critical of what I see online. Moving forward, I want to pay more attention to where information comes from, check reliable sources, and think twice before believing or sharing something online.


Comments

  1. williams.dan76September 10, 2026 at 6:12 AM

    Thanks for this blog post. I am glad you were interested in the presentation and discussion about deep fakes. They have become so much more sophisticated now than they were before. A couple years ago it was easier to spot. But I would like to think that, as deep fakes have become more sophisticated, that we have become more sophisticated in our critical thinking. Still, we have to pause reacting and verify.

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