Analysing the Public Discourse around OpenAI's Text-To-Video Model 'Sora' using Topic Modeling

Announced on February 15, 2024, it instantly caught the public's attention by demonstrating the ability to generate dynamic and realistic video clips from text prompts, similar to how OpenAI's DALL-E generates images from text. While Sora is still in a pre-release phase, its potential to revolutionize content creation and disrupt various industries be it media, entertainment, or advertising, has already ignited discussions across online communities. Subreddits such as r/OpenAI, r/technology and r/ChatGPT have emerged as epicentres for technology enthusiasts and critics to openly discuss and share narratives about the latest advancements in AI technologies. Previous studies have explored public perceptions of large language models like ChatGPT and image generators such as DALL-E through analysing online forums. For instance, Talafidaryani and Mora (2024) employed topic modeling techniques on Reddit data to uncover dominant themes surrounding ChatGPT, including its capabilities, limitations, and ethical considerations. Similarly, Zhou and Nabus (2023) investigated discussions on DALL-E, revealing discourse on creative applications, risks of misuse, and comparisons to human artists. However, due to Sora's relatively recent emergence, there is still a lack of research on the narratives and themes emerging from Reddit conversations about this novel technology. By conducting topic modeling analysis on a large corpus of Reddit comments, the study aims to feel that gap and uncover the main topics and themes users are discussing about Sora. These narratives can provide valuable insights into public perceptions, areas of excitement, as well as societal and ethical concerns surrounding around the advent of new generative AI technologies.