Good and bad AI

Leaders of many nations have been airing deep concerns about Artificial Intelligence (AI) which transcends creating fake videos, voice makeover and even robots. Amidst all these concerns expressed by several nations; Indians sat up and took notice after Artificial Intelligence(AI) generated video recently showed a person purportedly prime minister Narendra Modi doing a garba dance with a group of women during Navratri the Hindu festival in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2023. Deepfake is a type of Artificial Intelligence(AI) used to create convincing images, audio and video hoaxes. The term describes both the technology and the resulting bogus content, and is a portmanteau of deep learning and fake. Deepfakes often transform existing source content where one person is swapped for another. They also create entirely original content where someone is represented doing or saying something they didn’t do or say. . Deepfakes, an emergent type of threat falling under the greater and more pervasive umbrella of synthetic media, utilize a form of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) to create believable, realistic videos, pictures, audio, and text of events which never happened. The threat of Deepfakes and synthetic media comes not from the technology used to create it, but from people’s natural inclination to believe what they see.AI generated “Deepfake’ is the 21st century’s answer to Photoshopping. Deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images of fake events, hence the name deepfake. Deepfake technology can create convincing but entirely fictional photos from scratch. Audio can be deepfaked too, to create “voice skins” or ”voice clones” of public figures. This can be gauged from what Deepfage voice skins did when, the chief of a UK subsidiary of a German energy firm paid nearly £200,000 into a Hungarian bank account after being phoned by a fraudster who mimicked the German CEO’s voice. While deepfakes pose serious threats, they also have legitimate uses, such as video game audio and entertainment, and customer support and caller response applications, such as call forwarding and receptionist services. India has moved from concern to action on AI. According to IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Centre will come up with new regulations soon to tackle deepfakes as they are a real threat to democracy. The move also came after several ‘deepfake’ videos targeting leading actors went viral, sparking public outrage and raising concerns over the misuse of technology and tools for creating doctored content and fake narratives. The minister said this after holding a meeting with social media platforms on the deepfake issue. AI has not fully developed since there are still many flaws or tell tale which make it easy to detect deepfakes. As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionise industries and change how societies in 21st century live and work, the potential for this technology to disrupt markets has also become a hot topic of debate. A careful and well-informed approach is needed to ensure that the benefits of AI in the legal system are realised while minimising the potential risks and negative effects.