In this era of artificial intelligence, deep fake videos are becoming increasingly viral. So far, deep fake videos of many celebrities have appeared on social media. These days, deep fake videos of cricketers and film stars are becoming viral to promote apps promoting betting.
Recently, a deepfake video promoting industrialist Anant Ambani went viral in which he appeals to play the betting game “Aviator App” saying, ‘I will give 1 billion to celebrate my wedding. Play my favorite game Aviator; I will multiply every win by five times, and if you lose, I will return double your deposit.’ It was found that the video is an AI generated deepfake.
Deepfakes of the giants
The makers of “Aviator App” have targeted big names and influencers from all walks of life for promotion, including comedian Kapil Sharma, cricketers Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
India Today’s open-source intelligence (OSINT) team found that these deep fake videos ran paid ads on the Facebook and Instagram pages of ‘Aviator Pilot’, ‘4rabet Aviator’ and ‘Aviator Stack’, aimed at promoting the app. The ads appear to have been removed within a few days.
Preparations to curb deepfakes, government will introduce Digital India bill in the upcoming session
An AI content detection tool developed by US firm TruMedia found that these videos used cloned voices and visuals manipulated by AI. Meta’s transparency data says these pages were run from various countries such as Ukraine, the UK, the US, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
social engineering
These deepfake videos are designed using social engineering to trick different groups of audiences into believing they are fake. “Social engineering” refers to campaigns in which ads are designed to exploit people’s psychology to get them to transfer money, which they would not normally do.
Kapil Sharma’s deepfake video promotes a batting app and asks people to invest in it, while Dhoni’s video says: “Everyone wins, you will win too.” Earlier this year, a deepfake video of Sachin Tendulkar was reported promoting a similar aviator game. Despite the many cases coming to light, deepfake videos of other celebrities are also coming to the fore.
Why aviator games are becoming popular
Simulated aviator games that offer a virtual experience of flying a plane are gaining popularity in India. Google Trends data shows that the keyword “aviator game” has increased more than 10 times in the last one year. For many, these online games have now become money-making machines. What is more worrying is that they are easy and inexpensive to design and maintain. The popularity of such games can be gauged from the fact that some software developers have put up frequently asked questions (FAQs) online for developing such games and offer to design them instantly.
Elon Musk posted a Deepfake video of Kamala Harris, will any action be taken against him?
A document posted by the Noida-based firm reads, “There are several advantages to developing an Aviator game. Firstly, Aviator is a very popular game. This means there is a large potential market for your game. Second, Aviator is a relatively simple game to develop. This means you can develop your game quickly and easily. Thirdly, Aviator is a very profitable game. This means you can make a lot of money from your game.”
When contacted, a company representative said that it would take only 2-3 days to develop and deploy the Aviator game. “We charge Rs 40,000-45,000 for development and around Rs 500 per month for server hosting. There are no other ongoing expenses,” he told Aaj Tak.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)