Does “distance lend enchantment”? Public attitudes to deepfake technology in the United States

We describe a focus group study of public perceptions of “deepfake” technology, that is, digitally manipulated videos that show people saying or doing things they never really did. The study was designed to explore the relationship between degree of closeness to or familiarity with technology and attitudes toward it. We find that in this case, publics that are closer have more positive and nuanced attitudes. In such cases, at least, it appears that distance does not lend enchantment. We suggest why this may be the case and propose further related research designed to test the conclusions reached here.