They Look Real: 5 Telltale Signs of an AI Deepfake Video

You’re scrolling through your social media feed and see a shocking video: a famous CEO announcing a disastrous policy, or a political figure saying something completely out of character. For a moment, you believe it. But then, a nagging feeling kicks in—is this real? In 2025, with deepfake technology becoming alarmingly accessible, learning to question and analyze video content isn’t just a neat trick; it’s a fundamental skill for navigating the modern world.

This guide will teach you the key signs to look for, turning you into a more discerning and critical viewer of digital media.

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The 5-Second Deepfake Check

If you’re short on time, quickly check for these five common flaws. The presence of even one is a major red flag.

1. Eyes and Blinking: Look for unnatural staring, a lack of blinking, or, conversely, excessive, fluttery blinking.
2. Facial Features and Edges: Notice if the skin is unnaturally smooth or if the edges of the face (hairline, jaw) look blurry or jittery against the background.
3. Lip Sync: Watch closely to see if the words being spoken are perfectly synchronized with the movement of the lips.
4. Unnatural Head and Body Position: Observe if the head’s angle or lighting seems inconsistent with the body and the environment.
5. Emotional Mismatch: Trust your gut. Does the person’s facial expression genuinely match the emotion of their words?

The New Reality: Why Deepfake Detection Is an Essential Skill in 2025

A “deepfake” is a video or audio clip that has been manipulated using artificial intelligence (specifically, deep learning) to replace a person’s likeness or voice with someone else’s. While it can be used for harmless satire, the technology is a powerful weapon for creating convincing misinformation, scams, and personal attacks.

The threat is growing exponentially. A July 2025 report from the Cyber-Forensics Alliance estimates that the creation of malicious deepfakes has increased by 900% since 2023. Scammers are using deepfakes to impersonate bosses in video calls to authorize fraudulent wire transfers, political actors are using them to create fake scandals, and criminals are using them to create non-consensual explicit content.

Learning to identify them is your first and most powerful line of defense against this new wave of digital deception.

The Deep-Dive Analysis: What to Look For

Here is a detailed breakdown of the five key telltale signs.

Tell #1: The Unnatural Eyes and Blinking

The eyes are often called the “window to the soul,” and for AI, they are one of the hardest things to get right.

• What to Look For:
  • Blinking Rate: Humans blink, on average, every 2-10 seconds. Early deepfake models often failed to replicate this, resulting in an unnerving, reptilian stare. While newer models have improved, their blinking patterns can still be unnatural—either too frequent and fluttery or too sparse.
  • Eye Reflections: The reflections of light in a person’s eyes (specular highlights) should match the light sources in the room. In a deepfake, these reflections might be missing, identical in both eyes (which is rare), or simply look “painted on.”

[Image: A side-by-side comparison. Left side shows a real eye with a natural reflection of a window. Right side shows a deepfaked eye that is glassy and has no reflection.]

Tell #2: Flawless Skin and Awkward Facial Edges

AI often struggles with seamlessly blending the fake face onto the source video.

• What to Look For:
  • “Digital Airbrushing”: AI can over-smooth the skin, removing all natural pores, wrinkles, and blemishes. If a person’s face looks unnaturally flawless like a digital sculpture, be skeptical.
  • Blurry Edges: Pay close attention to where the face meets the hair, neck, and background. You may notice a slight blurriness, jittering, or discoloration as the AI struggles to blend the two elements perfectly. This is especially noticeable during fast head movements.

Tell #3: Poor Lip Sync and Robotic Audio

Creating perfect synchronization between manufactured audio and video is extremely difficult.

• What to Look For:
  • Mismatched Shapes: Watch the mouth closely. Do the shapes the lips are making (like “ooh” or “eff”) perfectly match the sounds being produced? Often in deepfakes, there is a subtle but noticeable mismatch.
  • Flat Audio: Even if the video is convincing, the audio might give it away. Voice-cloned audio can sound robotic, lack emotional inflection, or have strange digital artifacts and an unnatural cadence.

Tell #4: The “Floating Head” and Unnatural Posing

This happens when the deepfaked face doesn’t quite align with the underlying body and environment.

• What to Look For:
  • Inconsistent Lighting: If the light is hitting the person’s face from the left, but the shadows on their neck and chest suggest the light is coming from the right, that’s a massive red flag.
  • Awkward Positioning: The head may seem to be at a slightly unnatural angle to the neck and shoulders, creating a “pasted on” or “floating head” effect.

[GIF: A short clip highlighting the lighting on a person's face being different from the lighting on their shoulder and the wall behind them.]

Tell #5: Emotional Inconsistencies

This is a more subjective but powerful human check. We are wired to read facial cues for emotion.

• What to Look For:
  • A “Blank” Face: The person might be saying incredibly angry words, but their eyes and forehead remain placid and emotionless.
  • Delayed Reactions: A smile might appear a split-second too late after a happy statement. The overall facial expression just feels “off” and doesn’t match the tone of the conversation. Trust your intuition.

Beyond the Naked Eye: Tools and a Healthy Skepticism

While these manual checks are your best immediate tool, also remember the importance of provenance. Before you believe a shocking video, ask yourself:

• Who is the source? Is it a trusted news organization or a random, anonymous account?
• Can I verify it elsewhere? Are other reliable sources reporting the same story?

For high-stakes situations, tools from companies like Intel and Microsoft are emerging to detect deepfakes, but for everyday use, critical thinking is paramount.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Are deepfakes illegal? It depends entirely on their use. If used for fraud, defamation, or creating non-consensual explicit material, it is highly illegal. If used for parody or satire, it often falls into a legal gray area.
• What should I do if I find a deepfake video? Do not share it. Sharing it, even to debunk it, helps it spread. Instead, report the video to the platform (YouTube, Facebook, X, etc.) immediately for violating policies on impersonation, hate speech, or manipulated media.
• Is audio-only deepfake a thing? Yes. Voice cloning is a significant and growing threat. Scammers can use just a few seconds of your voice from a public video to create an audio deepfake to fool your family or colleagues in phone calls.

Your Best Defense: A Critical Mind

The technology behind deepfakes will only get better, and these telltale signs may become harder to spot over time. However, the one tool that will never become obsolete is your own critical judgment.

Always approach sensational online content with a healthy dose of skepticism. By training yourself to look for the details, question the source, and trust your gut, you can protect yourself from the growing threat of digital deception.

Have you ever seen a video you suspected was a deepfake? Share what tipped you off in the comments below!

Now that you can spot fake videos, learn about another way your data is being used. Read our guide on How to Protect Your Personal Data from AI Scraping.