• DOI:10.1145/3491102.3517446
• Corpus ID: 247779344

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

@article{Gamage2022AreDC,
  title={Are Deepfakes Concerning? Analyzing Conversations of Deepfakes on Reddit and Exploring Societal Implications},
  author={Dilrukshi Gamage and Piyush Ghasiya and Vamshi Krishna Bonagiri and Mark E. Whiting and Kazutoshi Sasahara},
  journal={CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
  year={2022}
}

• D. Gamage, Piyush Ghasiya, +2 authors K. Sasahara
• Published 14 March 2022
• Computer Science
• CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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.