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Bengaluru: In a move to curb deepfakes and misuse of various AI (artificial intelligence) tools, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed amendments to IT rules, mandating clear labelling of AI-generated content that will help users distinguish real content from synthetic.
Experts said this will provide a safer accountable digital space for users. Of late, AI-generated fake images and videos have been increasing and recently, the Bombay High Court condemned and ordered urgent removal of actor Akshay Kumar's deepfake AI-generated video and expressed concern over the harm that fake content such as this could create.
Akif Khan, VP analyst, Gartner, said, “If this comes into law, enterprises will need to put processes in place to ensure that any content that they produce and publish is appropriately labelled if it was AI generated."
"Going further, in the spirit of building trust, enterprises should use new standards such as C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity) Content Credentials to establish the authenticity and origins of any original content that they produce," he added.
The proposed amendments aim to strengthen the due diligence obligations of intermediaries—particularly social media intermediaries (SMIs) and significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs)—in light of the growing misuse of technologies which are used for the creation or generation of synthetic media, the IT ministry said.
Earlier it included amendments in October 2022 and April 2023.
Mahesh Makhija, Partner and Technology Consulting Leader, EY India said the proposed rules mark a clear step toward ensuring authenticity in digital content.
"Labelling AI generated material and embedding non-removable identifiers will help users distinguish real content from synthetic. This will serve as the foundation for responsible AI adoption, these measures will give businesses the confidence to innovate and scale AI responsibly," he added.