India Observers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Smart India Hackathon. He talked about India's future in technology and innovation, especially focusing on the next 25 years, which he calls 'Amrit Kaal'. PM Modi emphasized the significance of technology in our daily lives and stressed the need for India to become self-reliant. India should not have to rely on importing technology from other countries.  This is crucial because, in some areas, especially in defense, we currently depend a lot on technology from other countries. We are confident that India, with its large talent pool, can provide cost-effective and high-quality solutions to many global problems. An interesting point he raised was about the challenges of cyber fraud, especially with new technologies like deepfake videos . These videos, made using advanced AI, look very real and can be misleading.  PM Modi warned everyone to be careful and scrutinize these videos closely. He mentioned that India is working on creating ...

  The recent viral video featuring actress  Rashmika Mandanna  stepping into an elevator turned out to be a deepfake, raising concerns about the misuse of advanced AI technology. Originally posted by Zara Patel, a British woman of Indian descent, the video went unnoticed for almost a month, garnering over 12 million views on social media, especially X (Twitter). The deepfake seamlessly superimposed Rashmika Mandanna’s face onto Zara Patel’s body, creating a convincing yet fabricated video. The alarming aspect is the difficulty in detecting such deepfakes, which can spread misinformation and deceive people. The growing use of AI to create realistic deepfakes poses a threat to individuals’ privacy and reputation. This incident follows a pattern, with celebrities like Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson having been victims of similar manipulations. The concerning aspect extends beyond privacy invasion; deepfakes challenge the reliability of videos as evidence in legal proceedin...