image: Guy Grinfeld
Credit: Tel Aviv University
Research team: “The findings raise concerns about the spread of false visual information on social media and its influence on public perception. If until now the proverb went, ‘A lie told often enough becomes the truth,’ our study shows that ‘An image seen often enough becomes reality.’”
A new international study led by a research team from Tel Aviv University has revealed that simply repeating an image, whether authentic or AI-generated, increases the likelihood that we will believe it is real.
The researchers found that repeated images are more likely to be believed as representing a real person, location, or an event than images seen for the first time—even when those images were entirely AI-generated. In other words, an image shared multiple times on social media is perceived as more credible, regardless of its authenticity.
The study was led by Guy Grinfeld, who is currently completing his doctorate at the School of Psychological Sciences Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences at Tel Aviv University. The research also involved scholars from Germany, Belgium, and Spain. The findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, a prestigious scientific journal published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Guy Grinfeld explains: “The study is based on a well-known psychological phenomenon called the ‘mere exposure effect,’ which suggests that information that we encounter repeatedly is perceived as more credible. In our research, we sought to examine whether this effect also applies in the visual domain — specifically with images created using artificial intelligence algorithms. This is the first study to demonstrate the mere exposure effect for images; until now, it had only been demonstrated for text. The findings raise concerns about the spread of false visual information on social media and its influence on public perception. As we like to summarize it, if until now the proverb went, ‘A lie told often enough becomes the truth,’ our study shows that ‘An image seen often enough becomes reality.’”
In the experiment, participants were shown a series of images that included both real photographs and images generated by AI. These images were shown again at a later stage in the study along with images shown for the first time, at which point participants were asked to judge whether the images depicted a real object or event. The result was clear: images that participants had seen before were rated as more credible than images shown for the first time — regardless of whether they were real or fake. Surprisingly, the repetition effect was even stronger among the skeptical participants—those who generally rated images as less credible. This suggests that people who tend to be cautious might rely more heavily on repetition as an indicator of truth.
Grinfeld concludes: “In the era of social networks and digital media, we are constantly and involuntarily exposed to visual information. Whereas in the past, it was easy to lie with words, today, AI tools make it just as easy to ‘lie’ with images. Our new study reveals a troubling mechanism: people attribute higher credibility to visual information that is repeated, regardless of its veracity. This creates a dangerous combination: repeated exposure to false information can make it seem credible, simply through repetition.
“The findings raise profound questions about how we process information, especially in an age of visual overload in social and news media. They also highlight the central challenge of our time: preserving truth and critical thinking in a world of dynamic, easily manipulated, and hard-to-discern visual content.”
Link to the article:
https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-35632-001.html
Journal
Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition