Curb deepfake velocity, vulnerability and viciousness
Trust is at the core of the diffusion of any innovation in any sector, particularly so in the case of technology. If this trust is compromised, diffusion will fail, no matter how useful it is. In today’s age of digitally generated deepfakes, the old adage “seeing is believing" is under siege.
Trust erosion: While any technology can be misused, what sets deepfakes apart is their rapid spread (velocity) enabled by social media platforms and the human tendency to believe what one sees (vulnerability), causing harms that can be severe (viciousness). Women and children face significant psychological distress as targets of deepfake depictions, some of which are pornographic. Deepfakes violate privacy and publicity rights, as seen in the Anil Kapoor vs Simply Life India case last year at the Delhi high court.
The threat has vast scope. Institutions like the judiciary face potential manipulation with fabricated evidence, making it harder for courts to discern the truth and raising the chilling possibility of wrongful convictions. Trials getting bogged down as parties contest the authenticity of evidence could erode public trust in the legal system.
Deepfakes also threaten user-verification methods such as facial recognition, which is a worry for a country like India that’s reliant on biometric identification for critical services, financial transactions and more. Perhaps the most worrying aspect is their impact on democratic discourse and practices. Deepfakes can act as a megaphone for misinformation, feeding echo chambers and confirmation biases.
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