Trust in the deepfake era is not a feeling

Someone recently asked me: how can you trust the content of companies in the deepfake era — and how do you build credible trust with your own employees in corporate communications?

My answer was: You shouldn't. And: you don't actually want to.

In a time when AI-based fakes look deceptively real, we don't need employees who believe everything unquestioningly. We need teams who think critically — who, when faced with a supposed CEO resignation sent as a video message, first ask: "Hold on, can that be real?"

Trust isn't built through nice-sounding messages, but through measures that actually secure trustworthiness:

• Verification instead of blind acceptance. Add a second layer to every unusual or sensitive process — e.g. a callback to the sender or a check through a second channel before acting.
• Clear authentication processes. Always mark sensitive internal communications unambiguously — through digital signatures, watermarks or central publication channels.
• Awareness training. Regular training on deepfakes, social engineering and digital manipulation — so that critical thinking becomes routine again.
• Transparent reporting channels. It must be easy and safe to report suspicious content internally.
• Establish a culture of "challenge". Inside the company it has to be clear: whoever questions things acts responsibly — not annoyingly.

Trust in the digital space is not a feeling. Trust is the sum of traceable processes, technical safeguards — and, of course, the right crisis preparedness in communications ;)