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India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

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Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#41

> Verified account @wokeflix_ tweeted the same image in a meme > Verified account @randomsena tweeted the same image > Another verified account, @RealAtulsay, tweeted the same image Isn't "Verified" on Twitter just a subscription now, meaning it's just that these people have given Twitter money? Why it matters (in a journalistic sense) who has paid Twitter or not? And why are only some of the verified accounts mentio…

"Verified" is now an anti-signal. It's more likely than not to indicate that the poster is a crank who's paying money to have their opinions disseminated.

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#42
post #6

That is getting real freaking dystopian. Sure, we would have been able to do this before, and the Soviet Union did a ton of photo editing. But doing this particular edit must have been so easy. No cost at all, no mental barrier. You would almost think 'why bother'. And before anyone says 'yeah, but the truth came out'. Well, we saw it, but how many of the particular audience of whatever that outlet was will never see…

IMO it doesn't even matter if the truth comes out, the truth wasn't first.

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#43

What's with India and the shift towards the right? I thought it had too many religions and different cultures to pull this off.

India’s promise of secularism has always been fragile.

The current party, the BJP, has strong roots in Hindu nationalism. It’s basically taken over a decade but they’ve successfully distorted the promise enshrined in our national anthem of an India for all.

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#44

> Verified account @wokeflix_ tweeted the same image in a meme > Verified account @randomsena tweeted the same image > Another verified account, @RealAtulsay, tweeted the same image Isn't "Verified" on Twitter just a subscription now, meaning it's just that these people have given Twitter money? Why it matters (in a journalistic sense) who has paid Twitter or not? And why are only some of the verified accounts mentio…

Well let’s see what Twitter says about their new blue program Your account must have no signs of being misleading or deceptive Your account must have no signs of engaging in platform manipulation and spam So Twitter is telling us that those accounts should not be deceiving. Yet, they are. https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/about-twit...

Pretty much the definition of "win-win situation" in Elmo's Abridged Dictionary, right?

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#45
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad thing is they will probably win again in 2024. The damage that 15 years of BJP has done to the social fabric of India, and the undermining of the core founding principles of the republic will last for generations. It's hard to imagine it going away :(

I sadly don’t see any true way to move past the BJP. They’ve really captured the minds of the majority. I don’t think any other party has anywhere near the might to stand up to the sheer might the BJP has created, not without compromising their morals. How do you compete with a government that will distort reality like this, where the majority of people won’t listen to the actual truth?

It's not like other parties have any morals in the first place.

Well none of my state parties have morals and sure as hell Congress doesn't have any morals

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#46
post #6

That is getting real freaking dystopian. Sure, we would have been able to do this before, and the Soviet Union did a ton of photo editing. But doing this particular edit must have been so easy. No cost at all, no mental barrier. You would almost think 'why bother'. And before anyone says 'yeah, but the truth came out'. Well, we saw it, but how many of the particular audience of whatever that outlet was will never see…

> yeah, but the truth came out The truth came out this time. To borrow from Ozark: this isn't the only time they doctored photos, it's the only time they got caught.

Also the truth came out here, but I wonder if the truth will get out on Indian Twitter given that the Indian government is one of the most prolific issuers of Twitter takedowns, and the odds of them being approved has supposedly spiked from about 50% under the old leadership to about 99% since Elon took over. Previously governments had to expect some pushback against over-reaching takedown requests, but the new policy of rubber stamping nearly any request without a second thought means it's open season for them to censor anything inconvenient.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/5/2/twitter-fulfillin...

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#47
post #22

As an NRI, I continue to be disappointed by the country I called home for most of my life. Between the politics and the pollution in Delhi, I fear I can never really return home. The last time I was home, I was struggling every day to breathe because Delhi has crazy air in the winter. While high school friends were telling me about how they don’t believe in equal rights, justifying any means to achieving a Hindu coun…

I agree. And unfortunately, I think we have reached an inflection point in India from which we cannot go back to the way things were just about 12-15 years ago.

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#48
post #38
post #6

That is getting real freaking dystopian. Sure, we would have been able to do this before, and the Soviet Union did a ton of photo editing. But doing this particular edit must have been so easy. No cost at all, no mental barrier. You would almost think 'why bother'. And before anyone says 'yeah, but the truth came out'. Well, we saw it, but how many of the particular audience of whatever that outlet was will never see…

That is what a lot of us think the real threat of "AI" is: not that it will autonomously produce bad outcomes for humanity, but because it's a tool that's indifferent to truth or falsehood it allows any kind of truth or reality based politics to be totally flooded out of the public sphere. Everyone ends up fighting in the hall of mirrors.

[flagged]

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#49
post #48
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is what a lot of us think the real threat of "AI" is: not that it will autonomously produce bad outcomes for humanity, but because it's a tool that's indifferent to truth or falsehood it allows any kind of truth or reality based politics to be totally flooded out of the public sphere. Everyone ends up fighting in the hall of mirrors.

[flagged]

I'm not sure what you're arguing here?

Re: India ruling party's IT cell used AI to show smile on arrested protesters' faces

#50
post #6

That is getting real freaking dystopian. Sure, we would have been able to do this before, and the Soviet Union did a ton of photo editing. But doing this particular edit must have been so easy. No cost at all, no mental barrier. You would almost think 'why bother'. And before anyone says 'yeah, but the truth came out'. Well, we saw it, but how many of the particular audience of whatever that outlet was will never see…

I think the primary issue is that, while internet users usually question the authenticity of photos (as a normal practice), they tend to subconsciously trust what they see in videos.

It will require a significant mental shift to now question practically every single piece of audiovisual content.

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