AI, Deepfakes, and the Normalization of Digital Harm: A Social Media Cultivation Perspective

Abstract

This research-in-progress study examines how repeated exposure to AI-generated deepfake content on social media contributes to the psychological normalization of unethical behavior, particularly among young adults. Deepfakes, along with other forms of manipulated media, are increasingly perceived as trivial or entertaining, even as their ethical and legal implications remain underexamined. Extending cultivation theory to the social media context, this study proposes an emotion–cognition framework in which users’ emotional and cognitive responses shape internalized attitudes and beliefs. These internal states lead to desensitization and moral disengagement, which in turn normalize deepfake content. Young adults, whose neurocognitive and moral regulation are still developing, may be especially vulnerable to these effects. The study contributes to the IS field by illuminating how generative AI media influence morality and reshape perceptions of authenticity, credibility, and digital knowledge practices. The conceptual framework is subject to further refinement, with empirical testing forthcoming.