Celeb deepfake: Rashmika appalled as video goes viral

Bengaluru: A video of actor Rashmika Mandanna entering an elevator turned out to be fake, and triggered serious concerns on Monday about the mischievous use of artificial intelligence.

“I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online. Something like this is honestly extremely scary not only for me, but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused,” she posted on X.

Deepfake, written as one word, refers to digital manipulation that can create a convincing resemblance of one person using images of another. Fear is spreading that it could potentially be used to defame actors, politicians and people in high places.

Though nothing in the viral video is intimate, the manipulated footage has triggered jitters about how technology could be used to create sexually explicit videos.

Rashmika posted that she would have been clueless about tackling such a video had she been younger, and in school or college. She sought action against such identity theft, and found widespread support. 

“Yes, this is a strong case for legal,” Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan posted, also on X.

Kavitha Kalvakuntla, MLC from Telangana, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu to act. “The time for concrete action is now,” her post read.

The original video featured a British Indian, and was manipulated with the help of artificial intelligence, reports said.

Rashmika debuted in the Kannada film Kirik Party (2016), and has since starred in hit films across multiple languages.