”JAG SKITER VÄL EGENTLIGEN I HUR TROVÄRDIGT DET ÄR, OM DET BARA ÄR FÖR ATT FÅ NÅGON ATT GARVA”. En kvalitativ studie om ungas förhållningssätt till AI-genererat deepfake-innehåll på sociala medier

Sammanfattning

AI-generated manipulated content is rapidly changing the nature of the modern mediaenvironment. With only a few simple actions, anyone can create and distribute manipulatedvideos online. As technological development is transforming social media platforms, theimportance of adopting a critical approach to digital content also increases. Manipulatedinformation also poses societal and democratic challenges by reducing public trust in mediaand institutions as well as undermining people’s ability to remain well-informed.Although research on media and information literacy, AI and disinformation is extensive, therapid change of technological development creates a need for continuous research. Emergingdigital phenomena, such as deepfakes, should therefore be studied in relation to evolvingpatterns and developments, where human perspectives and interpretations remain central.The purpose of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding on how young peopleassess the credibility of AI-generated deepfake content on social media platforms. This isexamined by analysing the strategies used by young people when evaluating credibility, aswell as the factors that determine when and why such strategies are activated. Through this,the study aims to provide greater insight into how young people reason about manipulatedcontent encountered on social media platforms.By examining how adolescents themselves approach on deepfakes and their credibility, thestudy contributes to a broader understanding of critical media literacy practice that may helpprevent the spread of disinformation. The study is based on a qualitative research design usingfocus group interviews with 23 upper secondary school students aged 16 to 19. Deepfakevideos were used as video-material to encourage discussion about how participants perceiveand assess the credibility of AI-generated content. The focus group method enabled a morein-depth understanding of how young people reason about manipulated media.The findings show that young people use several different strategies when assessing thecredibility of deepfake material. In most cases, the findings show that credibility assessmentshould be understood as a situation-based process in which strategies may overlap. Animportant contribution to the study is the strategy we identified as the “Barbie-effect”. Thisrefers to situations where content is perceived as less credible when it appears to be perfect orartificial. This may involve the absence of human skin texture or a visual quality that isperceived as unnaturally flawless. The results show that it is not only imperfections thatindicate that content is manipulated; excessive perfection can also reduce the perception ofauthenticity. Other identified strategies for credibility assessment include auditory deviations,graphical deviations, and deviations in the content itself. Another part of the findings is thatrespondents use social signals from platforms in the credibility assessment. Comment sectionsand likes are used as indicators of how the content should be interpreted and evaluated.The results also show that credibility assessment is highly situational. Young people tend toactivate more critical and strategic credibility assessments when the content is perceived asimportant, harmful, realistic or socially significant, for example in relation to politics, war orcontent that may influence people’s opinions. However, these strategies may also be absent orless developed when the content is perceived as humorous, entertaining, or irreverent. In suchsituations, the respondents often did not consider it necessary to examine whether the content was authentic or manipulated. The findings therefore that credibility assessment is not onlyabout identifying technical deviations but are also shaped by the topic of the content, itsperceived significance and previous knowledge. The findings highlight young people'sawareness of AI-generated manipulated content, while also pointing to the broaderimportance of media and information literacy.