Litigatingdeepfakes: verifyingevidenceintheaiera
Technology Section Co-Chairs: ChrisBach – PhelpsDunbarLLP & JillCash – BuchananIngersoll & Rooney
whetherornotrules707 and901( c) areultimately adopted, theauthentication challengestheyaddress arealreadyhere.
Affordable, easy-to-use artificial intelligence tools now allow virtually anyone with a smartphone to generate or alter realistic images, audio, and video, commonly known as“ deepfakes.” For litigators, this technology poses a dual threat: fabricated media may be introduced as genuine evidence, and legitimate evidence may be challenged as AI-generated. Courts, rule makers, and practitioners are scrambling to respond.
Federal Rules of Evidence Under Revision
The Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules is considering two proposed amendments, with a Fall 2026 symposium scheduled before deciding whether to proceed with formal rulemaking.
Draft Rule 707 would establish reliability standards for AI-generated evidence offered at trial, adapted from the expert testimony framework of Rule 702. The revised draft requires courts to evaluate AI-specific factors— including training data sufficiency, validation methodology, error rates, and
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