This article examines public exposure to and perceptions of deepfakes based on insights from a nationally representative survey of 1403 UK adults. The survey is one of the first of its kind since recent improvements in deepfake technology and widespread adoption of political deepfakes. The findings reveal three key insights. First, on average, 15% of people report exposure to harmful deepfakes, including deepfake pornography, deepfake frauds/scams and other potentially harmful deepfakes such as those that spread health/religious misinformation/propaganda. In terms of common targets, exposure to deepfakes featuring celebrities was 50.2%, whereas those featuring politicians was 34.1%. And 5.7% of respondents recall exposure to a selection of high profile political deepfakes in the UK. Second, while exposure to harmful deepfakes was relatively low, awareness of and fears about deepfakes were high (and women were significantly more likely to report experiencing such fears than men). As with fears, general concerns about the spread of deepfakes were also high; 90.4% of the respondents were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about this issue. Most respondents (at least 91.8%) were concerned that deepfakes could add to online child sexual abuse material, increase distrust in information and manipulate public opinion. Third, while awareness about deepfakes was high, usage of deepfake tools was relatively low (8%). Most respondents were not confident about their detection abilities and were trustful of audiovisual content online. Our work highlights how the problem of deepfakes has become embedded in public consciousness in just a few years; it also highlights the need for media literacy programmes and other policy interventions to address the spread of harmful deepfakes.

翻译：本文基于一项对1403名英国成年人进行的全国代表性调查，探讨了公众对深度伪造的接触情况与认知。该调查是自深度伪造技术近期取得进展及政治类深度伪造被广泛采用以来，首批同类研究之一。研究结果揭示了三个关键发现。首先，平均有15%的人报告接触过有害的深度伪造内容，包括深度伪造色情制品、深度伪造欺诈/诈骗，以及其他可能有害的深度伪造（例如传播健康/宗教错误信息/宣传的内容）。就常见目标而言，接触过涉及名人的深度伪造的比例为50.2%，而涉及政治人物的比例为34.1%。此外，5.7%的受访者回忆称接触过英国一些备受关注的政治类深度伪造内容。其次，尽管接触有害深度伪造的比例相对较低，但公众对深度伪造的认知度和担忧程度却很高（且女性报告经历此类恐惧的可能性显著高于男性）。与恐惧感类似，公众对深度伪造传播的普遍担忧也很高；90.4%的受访者对此问题表示非常担忧或有些担忧。大多数受访者（至少91.8%）担心深度伪造可能增加在线儿童性虐待材料、加剧信息不信任以及操纵公众舆论。第三，尽管对深度伪造的认知度很高，但深度伪造工具的使用率相对较低（8%）。大多数受访者对其检测能力缺乏信心，同时对在线视听内容持信任态度。我们的工作凸显了深度伪造问题在短短几年内如何深入公众意识；同时也强调了需要开展媒体素养项目及其他政策干预，以应对有害深度伪造的传播。