As celebrities launch AI avatars, how long could it be before legal risks catch up?
Digital influencers still struggle to match the trust levels of human creators. Audiences tend to connect more deeply with personalities who feel spontaneous and imperfect.
Even the most technically impressive AI personas can sometimes feel distant or overly curated.Shreya Suri, partner at CMS INDUSLAW, pointed out that the line between authentic representation and synthetic manipulation is still blurry given the ambiguity under the current IT Intermediaries Rules framework. Until that is clarified by the rulemaker (or through judicial precedent), reputational and legal risks can escalate quickly.“AI avatars raise immense legal and reputational concerns.
The technology used to recreate a person’s face, voice or personality can overlap with deepfake tools, which have been associated with impersonation, misinformation and online fraud,” said Germaine Pereira, partner at Solomon & Co.Concerns raised about AI chatbots or digital characters using the likeness of celebrities, deepfake videos and unauthorised use of their images without consent or generating statements that appear to come from the real person, using cloned versions of voices are common.In India, where social media content spreads rapidly and legal framework around artificial intelligence is still evolving, such technology could potentially lead to misuse of personality rights, misleading advertisements or reputational harm if safeguards and transparency measures are not implemented since people wouldn’t know the difference between original AI avatar originating from the celebrity and the deepfake one, Pereira added.Catch all the Industry News, Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
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