Veteran screenwriter and lyricist denounces technology abuse, warns of legal action
New Delhi — Veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar has expressed anger over a fake AI-generated video that falsely claims he has “turned to God”.
Akhtar, who claims to be an atheist, categorically denies having made such remarks.
Akhtar dismissed the video as “rubbish”, condemned the misuse of technology and warned of legal action. He said the video was misleading and tarnished his reputation and credibility, and that he was considering filing a report with cyber police to identify the culprit.
“A fake video is circulating showing a fake computer-generated photo of me with a topic on top of my head, ultimately claiming that I turned to God. That's bullshit. I'm seriously considering reporting this to the cyber police and ultimately taking the person responsible and forwarder of this fake news to court for damaging my reputation and credibility,” Javed Akhtar wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
The image shows Javed Akhtar wearing Islamic attire. Sharing the image, a user wrote: “Finally Javed Akhtar has accepted Islam.”
A few weeks ago, Javed Akhtar and Islamic scholar Mufti Shamail Nadwi held a public debate in New Delhi titled “Does God Exist?” At the Indian Constitution Club. Following the discussion, an AI-generated image surfaced on social media.
This is not the first time such AI-generated celebrity content has been published on the internet. Earlier, transformation videos and pictures of actors like Rashmika Mandana, Kangana Ranaut, Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar were also released on the internet.
The incident once again highlights growing concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence, especially as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine and manipulated content online.
