Deepfakes take just minutes to make with artificial intelligence. Here’s how Indian political parties use them against opponents
ABCMuthuvel Karunanidhi, an iconic Indian actor-turned-politician, made a surprising appearance in January ahead of the Indian election. Divyendra Singh Jadoun — who gained fame under the YouTube channel, The Indian Deepfaker — is no stranger to such content after doing work in film and His firm Polymath Synthetic Media Solutions is one of many deepfake service providers catering to political parties and this year his team's been bombarded with requests. Representatives of India's political parties have asked Mr Jadoun to manipulate audio of opposition candidates making gaffes during the campaign and superimpose their faces onto sexually explicit content. "It's not possible for the party leader to address each and every party worker," Mr Jadoun said. Political consultant Sagar Vishnoi, who pioneered the use of AI in Indian politics and worked on the country's first high-profile political deepfake back in 2020, says the technology has changed campaigning.
History of this topic
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