By Kotie Geldenhuys
Photos/images courtesy of Magnific, Unsplash and Pexels
A face that is not real. A voice that sounds exactly like someone you know. A video that never happened in real life. With deepfakes, it is increasingly difficult to separate truth from lies, and criminals are using these manipulations to commit fraud and extortion.
Deepfake technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning have revolutionised how deepfake media can be created and produced, leading to the creation of extremely realistic synthetic audio and visual media. A deepfake refers to a digitally altered photograph, video or audio media of a real person that makes him or her appear to be doing or saying something that they have never done or said before (Lin, 2025).
The technology has legitimate uses, especially in film and entertainment, where it can create better effects by bringing deceased actors and performers back to digital life (Lin, 2025). One example includes actor Val Kilmer, who died of pneumonia in April 2025, at the age of 65 years.
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[This is only an extract of an article published in Servamus: October 2026. This article is available for purchase.]