- 8 min read
Your head of marketing just Slacked: “Is this video of our CEO saying we’re merging with a competitor real?”
It takes you a second to respond because... it kinda looks real. Same voice. Same mannerisms. Same background as last week’s webinar. But nope—it’s bogus. Totally fabricated. And you’re now 30 seconds into a full-body sweat about how the hell you’re supposed to stay ahead of this kind of thing.
Welcome to the wonderful and chaotic world of deepfakes.
If you’re running a small business, managing a marketing team, or helping clients wrangle their systems—this isn’t just a weird corner of the internet anymore. Deepfakes are crawling out of Reddit threads and into real-world operations, marketing campaigns, and yes, the occasional PR disaster.
Let’s break down what they are, how they work, where the real threat (and opportunity) lies—and what scrappy teams like yours can actually do about it.
Short version? A deepfake is a synthetic piece of media—usually video, audio, or images—made using AI to look and sound real. You’ve probably seen the TikToks of a fake Tom Cruise or the Morgan Freeman that isn’t. Weirdly entertaining, slightly unsettling, and freakishly convincing.
The term itself blends "deep learning" (a type of machine learning) with “fake.” Catchy, right? What’s behind it is a little juicier—and way more important if you deal with digital content in any capacity (which, let’s be real, you do).
Deepfakes use something called GANs—or Generative Adversarial Networks. Think of it like this:
They go back and forth, over and over, until the fakes are really good—and borderline indistinguishable from the real stuff.
To pull off a believable deepfake, here’s what a typical setup looks like:
And no, this isn’t science fiction. These tools are available right now—some even free. That’s a blessing and a curse, depending on which end you’re on.
Okay, so you’re not Netflix. You don’t need to worry about someone impersonating your CEO in a blockbuster. Still—you absolutely need to know what deepfakes could mean for your work.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the strategic.
Despite their reputation, deepfakes aren’t just for scams. Used ethically—and creatively—they can unlock serious value:
More than 60% of marketers say they plan to use synthetic media (like deepfakes) by 2025. That’s not a fluke—it’s strategic. Done right, this tech can drastically cut production costs, boost engagement, and stretch creative capacity.
Here’s where the “dystopian” headlines enter: deepfakes are already being used for fraud, manipulation, and misinformation. You’ve got scams where AI replicates the CEO’s voice to request funds. Fabricated political videos. Or PR landmines where a competitor fakes a scandalous endorsement “from your team.”
It’s hit the point where detection tech is now a booming industry, with $300M+ expected in investment by 2025.
The real risk isn’t just that someone might impersonate you. It’s that your customers, employees, or clients might lose trust in what they see or hear—and that’s way harder to rebuild than a social media post.
No need to overhaul your department overnight. But savvy teams are starting to take a few smart steps:
Bonus tip: Teams who are already using AI for content repurposing and lead follow-up? You’re ahead of the curve. The same mindset applies—replace what’s manual, keep what’s meaningful.
Look—this isn’t about doomscrolling. It’s about designing your business to use these tools on purpose. If you know where your time and energy is leaking, and you're already stretching a marketing team thinner than your agency budget—this tech can be a force multiplier.
At Timebender, we build custom and semi-custom AI systems that handle the “grunt work” in your sales, marketing, and onboarding flows. And yes, that includes helping you safely and smartly fold in tools like synthetic video, AI-powered voice, and automated content delivery.
The point isn’t “look at this futuristic thing.” It’s: how can your team stop duct-taping systems together and start using AI as a real productivity engine?
Book a free Workflow Optimization Session and let’s map what would actually save you time, keep your content smart, and put guardrails in place—so your team doesn’t have to panic the next time a fake CEO video shows up in Slack.
River Braun, founder of Timebender, is an AI consultant and systems strategist with over a decade of experience helping service-based businesses streamline operations, automate marketing, and scale sustainably. With a background in business law and digital marketing, River blends strategic insight with practical tools—empowering small teams and solopreneurs to reclaim their time and grow without burnout.
Schedule a Timebender Workflow Audit today and get a custom roadmap to run leaner, grow faster, and finally get your weekends back.
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