Is AI blurring reality in the Indian elections?

What in the World

• Episode: Is AI blurring reality in the Indian elections?
• Website: What in the World
• Feed URL: https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/w13xtvrv.rss
• Duration: 00:11:12
• Published: 2024-05-21 15:30

As India votes in the general election, it is impossible to avoid the wealth of AI-generated content being created - from campaign videos, to personalised audio messages in a range of Indian languages, and even automated calls made to voters in a candidate's voice.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also already made the best of the emerging technology to campaign effectively - addressing an audience in Hindi which, by using the government-created AI tool Bhashini, was then translated into Tamil in real time.

But as the tools get more sophisticated, experts worry about its implications when it comes to making fake news appear real. In April, two viral videos showed Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Aamir Khan campaigning for the opposition Congress party. Both filed police complaints saying these were deepfakes, made without their consent.

The BBC’s Meryl Sebastian, who is based in Kochi in southern India, explains how the election is playing out amidst the wave of AI and deepfake content.

Plus we get advice on how to deal with AI and deepfake material as a voter from Divyendra Jadoun, founder of The Indian Deepfaker, who creates this exact content.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: [email protected] Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Josh Jenkins and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde