Deepfakes are supposed to destroy our ability to trust video evidence—but what if that fear rests on flawed assumptions about how we gain knowledge in the first place?

Philosopher Dr. Joshua Habgood-Coote (University of Leeds) argues that video has never been a simple window into reality. It’s always been interpersonal knowledge, dependent on trusting the people and institutions behind what was filmed, edited, and shared. In his 2023 paper “Deepfakes and the Epistemic Apocalypse,” he challenges the panic and draws surprising parallels to Victorian spirit photography.

We discuss:

* Why “seeing is believing” was never quite true for video

* How 19th-century newspapers handled widespread photo faking through social norms, not tech

* Why the real harms of deepfakes (including non-consensual intimate imagery) are about power and harassment, not just deception

* What a society that’s adapted to deepfakes might actually look like

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