Deepfake and Intergenerational Perception of Reality in the Post-Truth Era
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Abstract
This study aims to analyze, through an analytical lens, the psychological repercussions and the erosion of reality perception caused by AI-based deepfake technology among Generation X and Generation Z in Turkey, within the context of the post-truth climate. In today's information ecosystem, where objective reality is relegated to a secondary position to individual judgments and emotional reflexes, deepfakes exploit the ancient human tendency to accept visual data as absolute truth. Consequently, it leads to epistemological anxiety, erosion of trust, and cognitive exhaustion. Within the scope of the research, moving from Marc Prensky’s conceptualizations of "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants," a quantitative survey was conducted with a total of 40 participants, comprising 20 individuals from Generation X and 20 from Generation Z residing in the provinces of Istanbul, Konya, and Adana. The empirical data obtained proves the existence of a structural cognitive gap between the two generations. 100% of the Generation Z participants flawlessly identified the presented synthetic content based on visual imbalances and digital imperfections. For this generation, digital trust is not a default right but a transient conviction attained through continuous verification. In contrast, among Generation X, only 35% of participants correctly diagnosed the content in the initial stage, while 65% characterized the video as real. When deciphering digital manipulations, Generation X focuses on contextual and logical inconsistencies rather than technical details. During this process, the power of education was demonstrated through a short-term technical briefing intervention conducted with Generation X; this resulted in 61.5% of the participants who initially erred revising their flawed inferences. This underscores the significant impact of pedagogical support in narrowing the gap between digital immigrants and the complexities of synthetic media. Generation Z. The findings underscore the urgency of digital literacy strategies and legal regulations tailored to the distinct needs of each generation in the fight against disinformation.
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