Over 70% of Indians Exposed to Deepfakes, Voters Struggle to Decipher Real from Phony: McAfee Report

Computer security company McAfee’s findings have revealed that 75 per cent of Indians have encountered deepfake content, while 22 per cent said they recently came across digitally altered video, image, or recording of a political candidate.

It is now believed that with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and sporting events like the Indian Premier League (IPL), the actual number of people exposed to deepfakes could be much higher given that many Indians are not able to decipher what is real versus fake due to the sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

The research was conducted in early 2024 to find out the impact of AI and the rise of deepfakes in consumers’ daily lives. During this survey, the team found that nearly 1 In 4 Indians (22 per cent) said they recently came across videos that they later discovered to be fake.

Further data revealed that nearly 8 of 10 (80 per cent) people are more concerned about deepfakes than they were a year ago. More than half (64 per cent) of respondents say AI has made it harder to spot online scams, while about 30 per cent of people feel confident they could tell real from fake if someone shared a voicemail or voice note that was generated with AI.

According to McAfee, in the past 12 months, 75 per cent of people say they have seen deepfake content, 38 per cent of people have encountered a deepfake scam, and 18 per cent have been a victim of a deepfake scam.

Of those who encountered or were victims of a deepfake fraud, 57 per cent claimed they came across a video, image, or audio of a celebrity and assumed it was genuine, while 31 per cent lost money as a result of a scam. It was also discovered that 40 per cent believe their voice was cloned and used to mislead someone they know into disclosing personal information or money, while 39 per cent reported receiving a call, voicemail, or voice note that sounded like a friend or loved one but turned out to be an AI voice clone.

According to McAfee, misinformation and disinformation appeared as top worries among Indians questioned, with recent occurrences involving Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Aamir Khan, and Ranveer Singh serving as examples of what might become a widespread problem.

When asked about the most concerning potential uses of deepfakes, 55 per cent said cyberbullying, 52 per cent said creating fake pornographic content, 49 per cent said facilitating scams, 44 per cent said impersonating public figures, 37 per cent said undermining public trust in media, 31 per cent said influencing elections, and 27 per cent said distorting historical facts.

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