Advances in Gen AI good, but raising problem of deepfakes: President Murmu

Bhubaneswar, July 9 – Technological advancements like generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) are providing capabilities to human society, but creating ethical and social issues like deepfakes for humanity, President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday.

In her address at the 13th Graduation Ceremony of the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), she noted that along with rapid changes taking place in the fields of science and technology, there is always the danger of its curse.

“New technological developments are providing capabilities to human society, but at the same time, they are also creating new challenges for humanity,” the President said, citing the examples of CRISPR-Cas9, a gene editing tool; and generative AI, where images or videos of fake events are digitally manipulated.

“CRISPR-Cas9 has made gene editing very easy. This technology is a huge step towards solving many incurable diseases. However, problems related to ethical and social issues are also arising due to the use of this technology. Similarly, due to the advances in the field of Generative Artificial Intelligence, the problem of deepfake and many regulatory challenges are coming to the fore,” she said.

Further, the President said that experiments and research in the field of fundamental science often take a lot of time to get the results. She stated that similarly in life, “breakthroughs” are “achieved but after facing disappointment for many years”.

In such situations, where “patience is tested”, one should never be discouraged, she advised.

The President also called on the students to use their education and knowledge “for the betterment and upliftment of humanity” and to “discharge their social duties with full accountability”.