Amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha election, recently, a viral AI video showed PM Modi donning a trendy jacket and trousers, grooving on a Bollywood song as the crowd continues to cheer.
Later, the PM himself reshared the video on X and said ” “such creativity in peak poll season is truly a delight.”
Also, another video with similar setting showed, WB chief minister Mamta Bannerjee dancing in her saree outfit. With the parts of her speech functioning as a background score.
As a result, the state police-initiated investigation into the matter, alleging that this video can affect law & order.
Even though the video was lighthearted, but these easy to make AI videos also underscore the warning for the use and abuse of technology, especially in a country like India.
Because these AI videos containing perfect movements of the subjects has the potential to mislead even a digitally literate people of this country.
As a result, these videos can manipulate people, thus causing tension among 1.4 billion people in a country where AI is still new.
According to the World Economic Forum, India is at a higher risk of ‘misinformation’ compared to infectious diseases or economic issues in the next two years.
This has already begun, this April saw significant instances of Bollywood actors’ deepfakes criticizing Modi and fake clips involving PM Modi’s aide going viral, which subsequently resulted in the arrest of nine individuals.
Dealing With AI Menance
So, in order to deal with this issue, the Election Commission of India issued a warning to political parties against the use of AI during election campaign.
Also, shared the seven provisions related to information technology and other laws, which now beget punishment of jail term up to 3 years.
Earlier, one senior national security official, also warned. that easy availability of AI tools can now lead to the manufacturing of fake news especially during election period. And unfortunately, it is difficult to deal with this issue.
“We don’t have an (adequate monitoring) capacity…the ever-evolving AI environment is difficult to keep track of”. confessed one official.
Nowadays, AI and Deepfakes are increasingly being used during the election period, especially in countries like U.S., Pakistan and Indonesia.
But the recent spread of AI-generated videos featuring CM Mamta Bannerjee and PM Modi, which have amassed 1.1 million views on respectively on platform X, indicates that the challenges posed by AI are now being felt in India too.