India's elections offer a look at the impact of deepfakes | DW News

Senthil Nayagam is the founder of Muonium, an Indian start-up that uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) to produce high-quality videos. During India's 2024 election season, Nayagam has started creating political content creation using AI that brings popular politicians, who are long deceased, back to life on screen. This includes videos featuring M. Karunanidhi, the former chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, who died in 2018, and former prime ministers, such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Indian polls have historically been a breeding ground for disinformation. This election season, there is even more potential for creating misleading content because of AI. Before the elections began in April, millions of calls were made to Indian voters with AI-generated voice messages.

Political communication through artificial intelligence is here to stay and will only become more prominent in future elections. Even though it is a new medium, its impact on voters' sentiments and decisions could be huge.

There have been instances where deepfakes of Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Aamir Khan making political statements were able to make the rounds before being taken down. Although Singh filed a police report, experts say that the problem is the lack of clear rules regarding AI content. Earlier this month, a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court asking the Election Commission of India to formulate guidelines and regulations around the use of AI-generated content during elections.

In April, Indian police arrested two people from the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress party, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns about a doctored video of Home Minister Amit Shah.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has faced similar accusations from opposition parties.

AI content creators say they work for both the ruling party and the opposition.

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