Adobe Study: Misinformation and Deepfakes would have an Impact on Future Indian Elections

In a study dubbed "Future of Trust Study for India," published today by Adobe, the company discusses disinformation and how AI-generated material affects elections in India. In order to "understand public perceptions and sentiment about the societal impact of generative AI and misinformation, including its implications within the context of the ongoing elections in India," the business claims to have polled more than 2,000 Indian citizens.

According to the research, there is a "strong desire" among Indians to have access to technologies that allow them to confirm the reliability and source of information provided online. It also emphasizes how critical it is to launch media literacy initiatives that may inform the public about the risks posed by deepfakes and provide them with the means to distinguish reality from fiction.

Prativa Mohapatra, Vice President & Managing Director, Adobe India, states, "With the ongoing elections, now is the time to embrace protective technologies like Content Credentials to rebuild trust in the digital ecosystem.""

The study's other major conclusions include identifying misinformation as one of the worst hazards to society and revealing that 81% of respondents worry that the online content they access may have been manipulated in some manner to propagate incorrect information. An same proportion of respondents also state that it is getting harder and harder to determine if the stuff they encounter is reliable.

Due to the quantity of false material that is disseminated on various social media platforms, about 45% of Indians also claim to have either stopped using them altogether or cut back. Approximately 86% of respondents feel that future elections in India would be impacted by disinformation and deepfakes, and they think that candidates should not be allowed to use generative AI in their campaign materials.

While 93% of respondents say they want to know whether the information they are consuming was created using artificial intelligence, an equal number of respondents feel it is crucial to give them access to tools that would enable them to confirm the reliability of the source.