The resurgence of the spoken word: Forensic orality and the crisis of authenticity in the age of synthetic media

The rapid proliferation of synthetic media technologies, including deepfakes, AI-generated voices, virtual avatars, and algorithmically fabricated audiovisual content, has intensified a global crisis of authenticity and epistemic trust. As artificial intelligence increasingly blurs distinctions between the real and the simulated, conventional mechanisms for verifying truth and credibility are becoming less reliable. This article argues that forensic orality offers a culturally grounded response to this crisis by foregrounding embodied speech, dialogic interaction, communal witnessing, performative narration, and oral responsiveness as mechanisms of epistemic verification. Drawing on theories of orality, African oral epistemologies, forensic humanities, media studies, AI ethics, and decolonial thought, the study conceptualises forensic orality as a form of epistemic resistance to synthetic simulation. It demonstrates that African oral traditions historically developed sophisticated systems of truth validation grounded in public performance, memory, rhetorical competence, and communal accountability, while contemporary forms of digital orality continue to foreground human-centred modes of trust and verification. Through a qualitative, conceptual, and interdisciplinary approach, the article contributes to debates on AI ethics, digital trust, human-centred AI, media forensics, and decolonial epistemology by repositioning the spoken word as a critical resource for authenticity and credibility in an increasingly synthetic communication environment.