Concern about doctored or manipulative media is always high around election cycles, but 2024 will be different for two reasons: deepfakes made by artificial intelligence (AI) and the sheer number of polls. The term deepfake refers to a hoax that uses AI to create a phoney image, most commonly fake videos of people, with the effect often compounded by a voice component. Combined with the fact that around half the world's population is holding important elections this year – including India, the US, the EU and, most probably, the UK – and there is potential for the technology to be highly disruptive. Here is a guide to some of the most effective deepfakes in recent years, including the first attempts to create hoax images. The banana where it all began.

For years, the public has been warned about the risk posed by AI-generated images, also known as deepfakes. But until very recently, it has been relatively easy to discern an AI-generated image from a photograph. Over the weekend, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis wearing a Balenciaga puffer jacket went viral online, fooling many internet users. In just a matter of months, publicly-accessible AI image generation tools have grown powerful enough to generate photorealistic imagery. While the image of the Pope did contain some telltale signs of fakery, it was convincing enough to fool many internet users--including the celebrity Chrissy Teigen. "I thought the Pope's puffer jacket was real and didn't give it a second thought," she wrote.