The rise of AI technology is changing the way society perceives reality in India. Recently, a photo of Indian wrestlers Vinesh and Sangeeta Phogat was edited to make it appear as though they were smiling in police custody. With AI tools blurring the lines between real and simulated images, the potential threat of living in a simulated world is becoming a reality.
French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s work on electronic media culture from the 1980s provides a postmodernist perspective on this debate. Baudrillard distinguishes between pretension and simulation, with the latter having much more to do with what is true, false, real, or imaginary.
The BJP IT cell has been using AI to create a different reality that is imaginary, leading to the distortion of the truth. With the proliferation and scale of these imaginary narratives, it is becoming more difficult for people to differentiate between what is real and fake. As the country gears up for assembly elections, the use of AI tools to distort reality is only going to increase, hindering society’s ability to see the truth.
To quote the Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, minds are being hacked, and these simulated minds are dangerous both to themselves and to society. The result of these tools being used with no regulation in sight is leading to a society that is finding it increasingly challenging to see reality.
