In under six years, the development of artificial intelligence has made it possible for almost anyone to create fake images that are indistinguishable from reality. From the porn business to a coup d'état in Gabon, the Internet is disseminating a new phantom threat: that we will never know what is true again.
During the last legislative elections in New Delhi, candidate Manoj Tiwari surprised his voters with a video speaking in Hindi, another in English, and in Haryanvi. Before becoming the leading figure of the Indian People's Party (BJP) in the country's capital, Tiwari was an actor, popular singer, and reality show star. Yet, no one suspected that he could speak English (a valuable asset to the urban classes), let alone that he could speak the dialect of the Haryana area.
The truth came out days later: an advertising agency had proposed to the BJP, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs, to extend the electoral offer by using artificial intelligence to create Tiwari deepfakes. With previous recordings and cutting-edge software, they put words into his mouth that he did not know and spread his message through WhatsApp to voters outside of their core support.
