The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) analysed a video that features Mukesh Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Industries, apparently dishing out advice on making money through stock investments. After putting the video through A.I. detection tools and getting our partners to weigh in with their expertise, it was concluded that the original video had been manipulated using synthetic audio.
The 59-second clip sent to the DAU tipline for verification had obvious signs of visual and audio inconsistencies. Focussing on Mr. Ambani’s lip movements we noticed that in some parts of the video it appeared as if he had an additional set of teeth, which became visible the moment he opened his mouth wide to say certain words. His lip synchronisation was off, at one point especially his lip movement slowed down suddenly. Besides, his voice sounded very synthesised and his accent was very different from his usual public speeches.
Further confirmation regarding the lack of authenticity in the video that we were examining came through as we located the original video from December, 2022. Multiple Indian news publications had carried that video on their website, the backdrop and the clothes that Ambani is seen wearing in the original video are the exact same as that in the doctored video.
We put the video through HIVE AI’s deepfake detection tool, which indicated elements of manipulation in the video.
We expanded the scope of our investigation further to specifically get insight into the audio from our partner ConTrails AI, a Bangalore-based startup, that has its own A.I. tools for detection of audio and video spoofs.
Their findings about the audio being A.I.-generated corroborated our analysis of the audio being fake.
(Written by Debraj Sarkar and edited by Pamposh Raina.)
Kindly Note: The manipulated audio/video files that we receive on our tipline are not embedded in our assessment reports because we do not intend to contribute to their virality.
