Renowned content creator and actor Bhuvan Bam has recently found himself at the center of a deepfake controversy. A video falsely representing Bam circulated on social media, showing him urging viewers to invest in tennis through a certain bookie’s predictions. Disturbed by the misuse of his image, Bam swiftly filed a complaint. However, the incident has brought to light a larger concern: the growing misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in today’s digital landscape.
Ethical challenges of AI: Bam’s perspective
In an exclusive conversation, Bam expressed his concerns about the misuse of AI technologies. “The output from AI is only nice when done in control and with full agreement with the owner. But it’s too much of a hassle, that’s why people do these easy things that they do with AI,” he stated.
Using himself as an example, the 31-year-old artist illustrated the ethical challenges posed by AI. “Tomorrow, if I need the voice of a big actor, I would have to take their permission. But if I don’t know them personally, I can take the shortcut of making that with AI. If they take legal route, they can; if they don’t, it’s good for me. So, right now, we are at a hit-and-trial stage. But eventually, hopefully, the laws will get stricter.”
The importance of Intellectual property
Bam emphasized the importance of intellectual property (IP) in this context, warning that the situation could worsen without adequate measures. “There is so much influx of content everywhere, that people don’t think of creating original stuff anymore. There are so many references out there, and even we get approached to make similar content. But if you have these tools to plagiarize, you will use ChatGPT, deepfake, and AI. Hopefully, laws will get in place for this soon.”
Despite the challenges AI presents, Bam remains confident in the irreplaceable value of human creativity. “AI can replicate some things, it might be able to create some things on its own, but deni to command hi padegi na. And you need a human brain to make it happen. You can feed information to it to a certain extent, and that extent can be beyond a human’s reach, but where will you bring a heart and soul to it? To put heart and soul into any craft, no one other than humans can do that. AI is dominating, but in the longer run, you need a heart.”
As AI continues to evolve, Bhuvan Bam’s insights serve as a crucial reminder that while technology can be a powerful tool, it must be wielded responsibly. The need for stricter laws and a deeper understanding of intellectual property is more pressing than ever in an age where digital content can be easily manipulated and misused.
