The widespread abuse of artificial intelligence makes today’s technological advancements both beneficial and detrimental to society. The newest victim of Deepfake Technology is prominent Indian batter Virat Kohli, whose phoney voice is being used to advertise a betting app. Recently, a Virat Kohli-starrer video advertising for an app that promises large returns on customers’ investments has gone popular on social media.
The fraudsters have also included a video of a well-known TV station journalist to the advertising to further lend it credibility, giving the impression that it is airing during an on-air news programme. According to the advertising, Kohli invested just INR 1,000 and made INR 81,000 within three days.
Later on in the video, the con artists included a clip from the well-known interview that Kohli had with Graham Bensinger. They then overlaid the cricket player’s real voice over a phoney one. They did that using technology to make him lip-synch the phoney message.
With personal reasons, Kohli has withdrawn from the current five-match Test series versus England in cricket. Prior to the first Test match, on January 22, the star batter reported to the Indian camp in Hyderabad. However, he had to depart on the same day for personal reasons.
???? ?? ?? ??? @anjanaomkashyap ??? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?? ??? ?? AI ?? ???? ???
??? ?? AI ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ?? ??????@imVkohli pic.twitter.com/Q5RnDE3UPr
— Shubham Shukla (@ShubhamShuklaMP) February 18, 2024
Virat Kohli out of England series due to personal reasons
Kohli’s right to privacy was upheld by the Indian Cricket Board, which permitted him to skip all five Test matches. An additional twist to the story came from the revelation on his YouTube channel by Kohli’s close companion and former South African cricketer AB de Villiers, that the famous cricket player is planning another child with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma.
But a few days afterwards, de Villiers took responsibility for his remarks and expressed regret for circulating misinformation. India has recovered from a 0-1 deficit in the five-match series to take a 2-1 lead. This is after back-to-back victories in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot despite Kohli being out of the game. The fourth Test between the two sides will take place at Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium Complex on Friday, February 23.
