Are Deepfakes Concerning? Analyzing Conversations of Deepfakes on Reddit and Exploring Societal Implications

TL;DR

This paper analyzes Reddit discussions from 2018 to 2021 to understand societal perceptions of deepfakes, revealing a community supportive of deepfake creation and highlighting societal concerns and implications for HCI.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of Reddit conversations on deepfakes over several years, combining topic modeling and qualitative coding to uncover community attitudes and societal implications.

Findings

Reddit discussions are predominantly pro-deepfake and supportive of creating and sharing deepfakes.

Community concerns focus on the believable nature of deepfakes and moderation challenges.

Implications for HCI to mitigate deepfake-related societal harm.

Abstract

Deepfakes are synthetic content generated using advanced deep learning and AI technologies. The advancement of technology has created opportunities for anyone to create and share deepfakes much easier. This may lead to societal concerns based on how communities engage with it. However, there is limited research available to understand how communities perceive deepfakes. We examined deepfake conversations on Reddit from 2018 to 2021 -- including major topics and their temporal changes as well as implications of these conversations. Using a mixed-method approach -- topic modeling and qualitative coding, we found 6,638 posts and 86,425 comments discussing concerns of the believable nature of deepfakes and how platforms moderate them. We also found Reddit conversations to be pro-deepfake and building a community that supports creating and sharing deepfake artifacts and building a marketplace regardless of the consequences. Possible implications derived from qualitative codes indicate that deepfake conversations raise societal concerns. We propose that there are implications for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to mitigate the harm created from deepfakes.