To combat disinformation and the negative effects of deepfake news on society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recommended the use of watermarks on content generated by AI.
During an open and informal conversation with Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, the Prime Minister mentioned that when his voice is misused, it can initially mislead and confuse people, causing a public outcry.
“It’s critical to recognize that deepfake information is produced by AI and to credit the source. These precautions are crucial in the beginning. Establishing dos and don’ts is necessary. We shall have to give it careful thought,” the prime minister declared.
The number of deepfake incidents in India has suddenly increased. For example, cricket player Sachin Tendulkar was seen endorsing a gaming app in a video as a simple way to make money. Tendulkar was forced to go to social media site X in order to flag the video as “fake” and request that the platforms take immediate action to halt its distribution. Actor Rashmika Mandanna was featured in a deepfake film that was previously posted on social media.
Many people, including Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan, filed lawsuits against the perpetrators of the criminal crime when the video went viral. There’s a real fear of exploiting AI because India’s general election is coming up. Regulations regarding deepfakes and algorithmic bias on technology platforms will be added to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, according to a January 2024 announcement from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity). The state minister for information technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, announced that the administration had released a deepfake advisory. The IT Rules will apply if the intermediaries do not comply.
Bill Gates stated that although AI is still in its infancy, there are already some issues that need to be resolved. In AI, these are still early days. It will accomplish tasks you believe difficult and then fall short of completing tasks you believe simple. Though there are certain obstacles associated with AI, it appears to be a very promising field,” he stated.
