For most of the time since cameras were invented, images and videos were the strongest sources of evidence. Seeing something was enough to make people believe it was true. Images documented wars, historical moments and exposed scandals, and without hesitation, we believed in what we saw.
Until AI entered the scene and introduced a new era in which images, videos and voices can be entirely created using just a prompt. What once required advanced technological knowledge and expensive software can now be done within seconds through accessible AI tools. As a result, the internet has reached a point where we no longer know what is real, and every day it becomes harder to identify authenticity.
In the late 2010s, a theory became popular in online discussion forums. The Dead Internet Theory proposes that the internet is fundamentally dominated by bots and non-human technologies. According to this premise, this dominance eradicates authentic online interaction and triggers a vicious cycle in which bots consume and engage with content created by other bots, forming a spiral where human presence becomes practically insignificant.
Although the internet is not literally devoid of humanity – as real people still drive culture, trends, and the digital economy – the theory serves as a powerful metaphor for our current reality.
The Rise of deepfakes
Artificial Intelligence tools can generate faces that do not exist, recreate voices and produce videos that look completely real. As these tools became more accessible, deepfakes began to emerge. Deepfakes are pieces of synthetic media digitally altered to replace one person’s voice or face with another’s, making them appear to say or do something they never did.
According to recent cybersecurity reports, AI-driven deepfake cases in the country skyrocketed by over 126%, making Brazil responsible for nearly 40% of all deepfakes in Latin America.
A clear example of this crisis happened in Brazil in early 2026, targeting one of the country’s most trusted public figures. Cybercriminals used sophisticated AI technology to create hyper-realistic videos and audios in which Dr. Drauzio Varella appeared to endorse unverified medicines and medical treatments. Varella described the case in a podcast, explaining that he turned to the Federal Police in an attempt to stop the growing wave of deepfakes. “There was one week when they sent me twelve different campaigns”, he said.
social media and the spread of fake content
The situation gets even worse in a digital age like ours. People of all ages fall victim to fake videos, but children and the elderly are often the easiest targets, since they cannot always tell what is real and what is not. TikTok and YouTube infinite feeds, which were already harmful in many ways, are now filled with AI-generated videos. Funny animal clips and breathtaking landscapes are making people question whether what they see online is actually real. Many users consume this type of content without questioning its authenticity, helping fake videos spread even faster across social media platforms.
Recently, AI also made its way into commerce, transforming platforms like TikTok Shop into automated marketing hubs. With the boom of this e-commerce model, product showcase videos quickly shifted from human-led content to AI-generated productions.
Apps like Pippit AI or Renderforest can create complete scripts and edits simply by pasting the product URL from an online store. There is also TikTok’s own official tool: the TikTok Creative Assistant, which helps with scriptwriting, audience analysis, and campaign structuring.
This transition is being led by hyper-realistic digital clones and AI avatars capable of copying human emotions and demonstrating products with precision. But the thing is, many of these products are never actually tested, and if you buy them, there is a big chance that you will not get what you ordered.
the psychological impact of ai domination
In the past, the main challenge on social media was filtering what was relevant from what was not. Now, our brains are forced to work twice as hard: assessing relevance while simultaneously trying to decipher whether the content is real or synthetic.
The psychological impact of facing visually indistinguishable AI videos centers on a phenomenon known as “epistemic friction.” When the human brain can no longer instinctively separate reality from synthetic simulation, it is forced into a state of continuous, low-level hyper-vigilance. Over time, this chronic ambiguity compromises the essential trust we place in our senses, inducing digital fatigue, heightened paranoia, and a defensive attitude toward all visual information.
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The article above was edited by Rafaela Mina.
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