Paper Number
ICIS2025-2347
Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
The convergence of artificial intelligence and multimodal communication technologies has profoundly reshaped the landscape of computer-mediate deception. Among these advancements, deepfakes—AI-generated synthetic media—have emerged as a powerful form of AI-mediated deception, challenging assumptions about truth, trust, and authenticity in digital environments. Although deception has been extensively examined in physical and digital contexts, a critical gap persists in understanding how emerging technologies mediate and amplify deceptive practices. This systematic review synthesizes insights from information systems literature across physical and computer-mediated settings, with particular attention to the evolving role of multimodal data—especially audio-visual manipulation—in facilitating deception. We trace key theoretical and methodological developments in deception research, highlight underexplored intersections between modalities, and examine implications of synthetic media for human and machine-based detection. We reveal the growing tension between perceptual believability and factual veracity, raising urgent questions about the complexities of AI-mediated deception. Keywords: Computer-mediated deception, deepfakes, AI-mediated deception
Recommended Citation
Ho, Shuyuan Mary; Liu, Yue; Hussain, Ghazal Manzoor; Gori, Giacomo; Kaur, Rasleen; and Gills, Kelvis C., "Synthetic Lies, Digital Truths: A Systematic Review of Computer-Mediated Deception Research in the Era of AI and Deepfakes" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 17.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/cyb_security/cyb_security/17
Synthetic Lies, Digital Truths: A Systematic Review of Computer-Mediated Deception Research in the Era of AI and Deepfakes
The convergence of artificial intelligence and multimodal communication technologies has profoundly reshaped the landscape of computer-mediate deception. Among these advancements, deepfakes—AI-generated synthetic media—have emerged as a powerful form of AI-mediated deception, challenging assumptions about truth, trust, and authenticity in digital environments. Although deception has been extensively examined in physical and digital contexts, a critical gap persists in understanding how emerging technologies mediate and amplify deceptive practices. This systematic review synthesizes insights from information systems literature across physical and computer-mediated settings, with particular attention to the evolving role of multimodal data—especially audio-visual manipulation—in facilitating deception. We trace key theoretical and methodological developments in deception research, highlight underexplored intersections between modalities, and examine implications of synthetic media for human and machine-based detection. We reveal the growing tension between perceptual believability and factual veracity, raising urgent questions about the complexities of AI-mediated deception. Keywords: Computer-mediated deception, deepfakes, AI-mediated deception
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09-Cybersecurity