#30 Real fakery

Political advertisements on Instagram and Facebook created using AI have to disclose the use or risk getting banned. But, platforms are flooded with AI-generated posts, with no disclosure.

Welcome to the second edition of All Things Indian, where I unpack the complexities of contemporary India. Each post is a short piece of fiction based on real people I have seen, heard of and met during my decades of reporting. Each story will give you a short insight into the state of affairs in India today. 

Shanaya closed her eyes for brief moment, but the image of the green-blue sea stretching all the way upto the horizon did not leave her. She opened them to see the ocean again through the big glass windows of her office on the 46th floor of a swanky corporate building in Mumbai. “An office with a view,” her sister had commented when he visited, “people would kill for this.”

But, Shanaya never got enough work done in there. Many-an-afternoon, she spent browsing online for bath salts from Forest Essentials or perfumes from Chanel. 

The infinite waters made her feel ant-like. Sitting at that height, she felt suspended in between earth and the sky. Only the earth, sky and sea felt real. Her office, cubicles, computers, colleagues, vending machine, table tennis table and coffee cups were all a great sham.

No sooner had she pulled out her laptop and opened the AI application which she had created than her boss, Vedant, popped his head into her cabin. “Conference room in 5 minutes. Urgent”

She closed her Macbook, picked up her half filled coffee mug and walked into the conference room. “Last night, I closed a massive deal, people,” he beamed. “100 videos… and 200 images… for the BJP.” There was a murmur across the room. Some were unhappy they had to work. Others were unhappy that it was the BJP. “Shayana, will you lead this?” the boss asked, still unable to hold back his pride. 

For the first time in many weeks, Shayana felt a tinge of excitement up her spine. Elections were round the corner, can she do something that would solidify her place between the earth, sky and the sea? In all her 28 years, this might be her first albeit small contribution to nation building. 

She smiled back at her boss and nodded a ‘yes’.

Shayana had heard from her parents, friends, neighbours and former classmates that Narendra Modi had done a good job with the country in the past 10 years. 

“The economy has never been better” 

“Look how he finally managed to get Kashmir under our thumb”

“We need a strong leader like him”

“The alternatives are far far worse” 

She had read multiple articles about the good work BJP was doing in the rural areas.

“Millions of toilets built”

“Cooking gas made available easily”

“Thousands of kilometres of roads built to connect far off villages”

She gathered her team and invited them into her office for a quick strategy meeting. “Guys, we need to deliver 100 videos in 15 days.” she boomed. “It is very tough, but not impossible.” She told each one of them that she trusts their capabilities and asked for various ideas from them.  

By noon, Shayana was sifting through the ideas that had come from the BJP office. By 4 PM, she had finished a three hour meeting with members of the party who had brilliant ideas for promoting Narendra Modi on Instagram.

Her AI generator tool created multiple images of Modi as a Samurai, Modi as Superman and Modi as Shakitman. Under each image, she wanted to add statistics that would define his rule. Modi has vanquished corruption like a Samurai or that he might look like Clark Kent, but wields powers such like Superman. But, she thought the claims were hollow. When she asked for data to add as text to the images, BJP officials sounded evasive. “It is enough to see his face, ma’am,” they told her. 

As a voter, Shayana had voted based on the opinions of people around her. But, suddenly, as a AI creator, Shayana felt responsible for her creations. She was determined to give more information to the audience. 

It was 7 PM. She made herself another cup of coffee, returned to her desk and began digging out figures that would support the claims made by the BJP.

Shayana had hid her head in her folder arms and passed out on the table. Suddenly, she felt a presence lurking at the back of her chair. She swivelled around with horror, only to find the kind housekeeping lady who was vacuuming the carpeted floor. “You slept in the office, ma’am?” she asked. 

Shayana gave a weak smile. She had lost track of time, trying to find credible data to back up BJP’s claims. Most numbers were contradictory or confusing.

She stepped out into the smoking room for a quick drag before she went home for a shower and breakfast. Vedant stood there in front of an ashtray that could use emptying out. “I like subordinates who over work,” he said, wafting dark smoke. “But, the whole night? That’s a bit much,” he smiled.

“We have 75 images ready for your approval,” Shayana started without bothering with the pleasantries and lit her cigarette. “But, how do I write captions? There is no credible data to back the claims of all the work done. I don’t know if the subsidy on the gas cylinder helped the women or hurt the families; I am not sure there was any significant reduction in black money; heck, I don’t even know if the toilets they claimed to have built is used for that purpose!”

Vedant looked at her uncomprehendingly. His face twitched a bit, nose curled up and brows arched. “Why do you care?”

“I have not even begun thinking about the ethics of the videos we are producing with AI generated voices and faces,” Shayana responded. 

Before Vedant could say anything, she turned on her heels, “have to go shower,” she said while throwing the cigarette butt away. 

It was 5 PM. Shayana sat in her office and stared at the ocean. All the ideas for memes and images for the BJP project were scattered on her table. She was not insignificant anymore. She was marching along to get the BJP to win the Instagram battle. She was on the winning side, but doubts about whether she was on the right side crept up on her like snake on a bare boulder. 

Taking a large swig of her coffee, she went back to browsing online for bath salts from Forest Essentials or perfumes from Chanel.