what's the simplest way to spot a deepfake video or image?

Look at the eyes and the edges. That's your first, fastest check. AI-generated faces often have something subtly wrong with the pupils — they might be slightly mismatched, oddly shaped, or have a glassy, dead look. Light reflections in the eyes should also match. If one eye has a bright spot from a window and the other doesn't, you're probably looking at a fake. This isn't foolproof, but it catches a lot of lower-quality deepfakes. Next, check the edges where a person meets the background. Look at the hairline, the ears, the shoulders. AI often blurs or smears these transition areas. You might see a wisp of hair that suddenly disappears or a piece of jewelry that blends into a collar. A concrete example: a viral video earlier this year showed a CEO announcing a major policy change. Sharp-eyed viewers noticed his glasses had no consistent glare and his earlobes seemed to shift slightly between frames. That was the giveaway. The video was a sophisticated fake, but those tiny details broke the illusion. A useful insight that goes beyond the usual checklist: don't just look at the person. Look at the physics. Are shadows falling in the right direction? Does a necklace move naturally when they turn their head? Real physics is incredibly hard for AI to fake perfectly. If something feels 'off' about the lighting or movement, trust that instinct. And here's a practical tip — slow the video down to quarter speed if the platform allows it. Many deepfake artifacts that are invisible at full speed become obvious when you scrub through frame by frame. Your brain is already good at detecting something wrong. Slowing things down just gives your brain the time it needs to figure out what it is.