'Be cautious,' PM Modi's warning to ministers on dangers of deepfakes ahead of Lok Sabha polls 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised his ministers to avoid controversies and be cautious of deepfakes ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024. 

The Prime Minister issued the fresh warning during his nearly hour-long address while chairing the last formal meeting of his in New Delhi on March 3.

"Please be mindful before making any statements. Nowadays, there is a trend of deepfake in which voice, etc can be altered, be cautious of this", quoted a source attributing to the Prime Minister as saying.

The meeting was convened to brainstorm on the vision document '  ahead of the April-May Lok Sabha Elections. It was held a day after the (BJP) released its first list of for the upcoming Lok Sabha 2024 polls. PM Modi will again contest from Varanasi, UP, while Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, has been fielded from Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

By deepfakes, the prime minister, referred to the Artificial Intelligence-generated audio, images and videos of candidates that have the potential to distort reality in the run up to 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The PM had issued similar warnings earlier as well. In December last year, he on social media and said AI-generated videos and pictures look real. Earlier in November, PM Modi of a deepfake video that showed him doing the garba. Later, PM’s said it was not a deep fake, but it was him in the viral garba clip.

There is a concern that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections could witness a barrage of videos and audio clips of political leaders making controversial comments or disparaging remarks about their opponents. Experts said the misleading content can be used to spin a false narrative. 

These computer-generated fake videos have already started targeting Indian politicians. In 2023 Madhya Pradesh