Deepfake AI - Need for usage Guidelines?

Earlier this week I posted about a recent Deepfake of Tom Cruise which went viral. A TikTok user posted 3 videos self-portraying as Tom Cruise using Deepfake technology. While there are minor glitches, the realism of some of the frames in these videos are rather scary.

What is Deepfake?

Deepfakes (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness.

Needless to say that in a world where fake news is on the rise, misuse of AI and Deepfake can have far reaching consequences if there are No checks in place. Imagine what would happen if fake videos of eminent personalities including politicians, actors, businessmen, etc. were to be released tarnishing their image or for that matter carrying a message which could incite violence.

It was also heartening to see that earlier this week; Government of India came up with new guidelines for Digital News, Social media and OTT platforms. These new guidelines now require platforms to undertake self-censorship with reasonable restrictions on content and also provide users a mechanism to lodge their grievance with the platforms or higher authorities.

Coming back to Deepfake, it is important for Government to come up with some restrictions around use of this technology with clear restrictions & liabilities on the creator being outlined.

As I write this article, there are some videos of Indian greats which have emerged today. Using old photos and AI technology, the creator has tried to bring them to life.

#AI #ArtificalIntelligence #DeepFake #SyntheticMedia #TikTok #TomCruise #SwamiVivekanand #KasturbaGandhi #Aurobindo #LokmanyaTilak #BhagatSingh