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Vandinika Shukla, Fellow, Practicing Democracy Project, Harvard Kennedy School

Indian election was awash in deepfakes – but AI was a net positive for democracy

Narendra Modi India Democracy Bharatiya Janata Party Artificial Intelligence
An Indian AI media company maps Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face. Himanshu Sharma/picture alliance via Getty Images

As India concluded the world’s largest election on June 5, 2024, with over 640 million votes counted, observers could assess how the various parties and factions used artificial intelligence technologies – and what lessons that holds for the rest of the world.

The campaigns made extensive use of AI, including deepfake impersonations of candidates, celebrities and dead politicians. By some estimates, millions of Indian voters viewed deepfakes.

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