Wrestling truth

AI-generated deepfakes of protesting wrestlers are a frightening pointer to this tech’s many social dangers:

When some of India’s top wrestlers were dragged and detained in the national capital, sympathisers from across the country immediately responded that this was not at all how sportspersons who have done their country proud should be treated. But the image that many on social media saw/ shared instead was that of Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat widely smiling while taking a selfie with the police.

So, wrestlers who are determinedly pursuing sexual harassment allegations against Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan SharanSingh became, in this image, frivolous role players. A single image brought into question the social connect they had been building over months. Except, and this is the frightening bit, this image was soon revealed to have been morphed with an AI toolkit.

With its ability to completely undermine the public’s access to truth, this is a dangerous phenomenon. True, photoshopping relates to a software created way back in 1987. And forgeries and fake news aren’t recent inventions either. But with ChatGPT’s supercharged adoption since November 2022 as an inflection point for generative AI, the world has entered an era of very easy, high-speed, inexpensive and sophisticated deepfakery. It no longer needs even minutes for a foe or mischief-maker to sabotage personal authenticity. Everyone is just as vulnerable as Vinesh and Sangeeta. And so are the biggest institutions.

One thing that can deliver some safety is social media platforms acting with more accountability to reality and truth. Big Tech should invest some of the riches being poured into generative AI in deepfake detection.

Consider too that India and the US are headed towards big elections next year, with fresh AI advances set to leave earlier misinformation ploys looking like child’s play. No political side shall be safe from cloned content. While the 2022 deepfake of Zelensky calling on Ukrainians to put down their arms was too crude for credibility, it made clear the abundant potential for manufacturing chaos in any society.