Seeing is believing? Emotional and Cognitive responses to Deepfake Disinformation an Experimental Study

Deceptive “Deepfake” content can be defined as “content created to make viewers believe a forged reality having an effect on the audience”. Due to the newness of this technology, a body of recent research is investigating the impact of disinformation using “Deepfake” content on perceived perception and emotions. This study investigates the effect of “Deepfake” Tiktok videos, especially that using face-swapping techniques, on perceived deception and emotional response, in the light of the Information Manipulation Theory 2 (IM2) and the Cognitive Load concept (CL). Through an experimental design, a control group viewed an authentic video of an unknown speaker discussing the importance of time management, while an experimental group was exposed to an AI generated version of the same video using face-swapping techniques featuring a celebrity’s face. The study applies the PANAS scale to measure the subjects’ emotions after being exposed to real and AI manipulated content, in addition to measuring perceived deception. The main goal of this paper is to examine the effect of disinformation through “Deepfake” content on perceived deception and how that affects viewer’s emotions. The results of the experimental study found a weak to moderate relationship between perceived deception and emotions, and a difference between the experimental and the control groups. The experimental group who was exposed to the stimuli was deceived to an extent but their emotions were neutral compared to the positively influenced emotions of the control group exposed to the authentic video.