New Delhi: Singer Chinmayi Sripaada has raised concerns over the misuse of artificial intelligence technology, specifically deepfake videos, which are being used to harass and blackmail both celebrities and common people. In a post supporting actor Rashmika Mandanna, who recently fell victim to a deepfake video, Sripaada called for legal action against the misuse of AI and warned of the potential dangers it poses, particularly to women.
Sripaada stated, “Deep Fake is going to be the next weapon they use to target and harass and blackmail girls to extort, blackmail, and rape. Their clueless families in one small village or town are not going to understand when the honor is at stake.” She also highlighted the disturbing trend of loan app collectors morphing women’s images onto explicit photos in order to extort money.
The singer expressed concerns about the difficulty in detecting deepfakes, stating, “A Deep Fake is going to be tougher for the usual untrained eye to spot. I truly hope there is a nationwide awareness campaign that can kickstart urgently to educate the general public about the dangers of deepfakes for girls and to report incidents instead of taking matters into their own hands.”
The deepfake video that went viral recently featured Rashmika Mandanna, but in reality, it was a video of British-Indian influencer Zara Patel, with Mandanna’s face digitally replaced. Mandanna expressed her distress over the incident, stating, “I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online.”
The Indian government has taken note of the deepfake video and has sent an advisory to social media platforms regarding the issue. The widespread misuse of AI technology for harassment and blackmail has prompted calls for stricter regulations and public awareness campaigns to combat the growing threat of deepfakes.
