Rashmika Mandanna is the latest victim of the Deepfake technology that alters and manipulates actual video footage — both the audio and the visuals — to produce a version that cannot easily be identified as morphed.
The digitally manipulated video of the actress, which has notched up millions of views on social media, needs very close examination before it can be seen to be a deepfake.
The many who have called out the crime include Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan, who has stressed the need for legal and regulatory measures to combat such dangerous activity.
A factchecker (on AI ) Abhishek first noticed that the video was a fake, and, besides raising an alert, also explained how it was done. Sharing the video, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted that there was a “strong case for legal [action].”
The video features a woman who looks startlingly similar to Rashmika entering an elevator. In reality, it is a morphed footage, as the original one featured British-Indian Zara Patel, who had uploaded it herself on October 9. The identity and the motive of the fraudsters remain unknown.
“Ok this is terrifying,” said a user. “It’s crazy how real this video looks,” commented another. Other reactions included: “It’s extremely worrying how unreliable online information is getting.” “Scariest thing ull see on the internet ... its all here now .. we used to joke about morphing etc now this is another level.”
