Deepfake Images: Threat To Digital Dignity, Legal Challenges And Regulatory Gaps In India
Updated: Aug 6
Saumitra Sharma, United University
Soumya Srivastava, United University
Introduction
The word “Deepfake” refers to digital manipulation of content in which the appearance, voice and/or action of a person is changed by artificial means. Hence deepfakes are created images, videos or sounds which are fake but look real, created by using highly developed and advanced techniques by which human features are copied/imitated with great precision.
By deepfake user may replace one person’s face with another in a video, or add speech in video as per requirement. Such alterations and changes are so real that it makes it difficult to detect. Therefore, deepfakes questions on reliability of digital evidence and also its authenticity.
So deepfake is nothing but synthetic media where content is artificially produced rather than recorded in the real world. Editing seems to be tiresome work previously demanding tons of effort and skill but deepfake had made it like knife on butter with precision and accuracy which can't be achieved with manual editing.
Deepfake originated in the year 2017 on Reddit. A user with the username “deepfake” began posting doctored videos where celebrities' faces were swapped with other individuals' bodies. These videos attracted viewers because they look real.
The word “deepfake” is made of “deep learning” and “fake.” Where “Deep learning” means intelligence that uses neural networks to process and learn from large datasets and “Fake” means something unreal or made artificially. So, they sum up as AI generated fake media. Deepfake is not limited to only face swapping but it goes beyond and includes, lip-sync, cloning of voice and even completely imaginary faces can be crafted. Making it a requirement in the field of academia, legal and technology in the contemporary world.
