Taylor Swift is on the European leg of a tour that began more than one year ago. Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Brandon Bell
Taylor Swift, the pop star, is the celebrity most at risk of being deepfaked, with 114,630 deepfakerelated searches, according to a new survey. Swift is followed by the actor Jenna Ortega and Pokimane (a CanadianMoroccan streamer) at second and third, with 36,990 and 30,570 deepfakerelated searches, respectively.
Deepfaking uses AI to create realistic images, videos, or audio by mimicking a person’s likeness or voice. By coopting an individual’s likeness, deepfakes can also infringe on rights to privacy and lead to damaging misrepresentations.
Across the U.S. alone, over 665,000 searches for celebrity deepfakes were made over the last year (with that number almost quadrupling to 2,023,740 when accounting for all global searches). Concurrently, there has been a 550 percent increase in deepfakes since 2019.
Of these, 96 percent of those deepfake videos are nonconsensual fake videos of women. This mainly affects women who are also celebrities.
The study was performed by AI interview helper Final Round AI. The firm analysed search volume data from September 2023 to September 2024, specifically looking at searches for celebrity deepfakes.
Using a list of 195 celebrities, search volume data was gathered worldwide, revealing which celebrities are the most at risk of being deep faked.
In first place is Taylor Swift, with the Pennsylvaniaborn musician involved in deepfakerelated searches 114,630 times in the U.S. alone, with this figure climbing to 249,840 searches from September 2023 to September 2024 globally. Swift fell victim to multiple viral pornographic deepfakes, as well as deepfaked political endorsements.
The top ten celebrities most at risk of deepfakes, ranked by US search volumes:
- Taylor Swift
- Jenna Ortega
- Pokimane
- Brooke Monk
- Billie Eilish
- Addison Rae
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Bobbi Althoff
- Millie Bobby Brown
- Zendaya
Each of the people to feature in the top ten are females, with the first male to feature on the entire list is Tom Holland in 102nd place, being on the receiving end of 1,020 deepfakerelated searches from within the U.S. over the last year, with that number more than doubling to 2,810 when accounting for all global searches.
The next ten are:
- Scarlett Johansson
- Ice Spice
- Emma Watson
- Margot Robbie
- Ariana Grande
- Elizabeth Olsen
- Livvy Dunne
- Madison Beer
- Charli D’Amelio
- Sydney Sweeney
Pedro Pascal and Elon Musk are the next two male figures to appear on the list, in 103rd and 113th place, respectively.
Stricter regulations regarding deepfake creation and distribution appear to be needed, together with advancements in AI detection tools.
