Deepfakes of Digital Kurukshetra

Deccan Herald

24-05-2025

In a telling moment from a few weeks ago, US President Donald Trump, when challenged in a televised interview, insisted that a digitally augmented photograph showed gang tattoos on the hands of a deported asylum seeker. When journalist Terry Moran objected, Trump snapped: 'Why don't you just say yes?'.That question – equal parts demand and deflection – reveals the deeper malaise of our time. Misinformation is no longer accidental. It is strategic. It is not just the domain of trolls and fringe conspiracists. It now emanates from the highest governance offices, dressed in certainty and powered by repetition..For all of us, there is an ongoing battle with misinformation. In this environment, it is essential to understand that information is different from data. Information is data with context. Strip data of context or place it in the wrong one, and it becomes something else altogether – misinformation. This distinction can be understood through a simple framework: right data + right context = information; right data + wrong context = misinformation; wrong data = falsehood – whether due to misinformation (ignorance or error) or disinformation (intentional deceit)..This distinction is often blurred, even by respected thinkers. Yuval Harari, for instance, refers to myths, narratives, and fabricated content under the term 'information'. But without context, we erase the line between knowing and believing when categorising everything as information. This conflation of truth and narrative is not new. It echoes across civilisations, as in epics like Gilgamesh and the Mahabharata. The context is that these are epics that must be studied as such. They tell us how civilisations grappled with questions of duty, power, mortality, and meaning. Some events or characters may have a historical basis. But to present them wholesale as history, without critical examination or supporting primary sources, is to misinform. The mistake is not in the data but in its category. Presenting myth as myth is a cultural understanding. Presenting it as an empirical truth is a distortion..The Mahabharata itself contains an example of misinformation. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, the aged warrior Drona could not be defeated in combat. Krishna advised the Pandavas that Drona's spirit would break only if he believed his son Ashwatthama was dead. Bhima kills an elephant named Ashwatthama, and Yudhishthira, known for his unwavering commitment to truth, is responsible for delivering the message – 'Ashwatthama is dead,' and then he adds under his breath, '...the elephant.' Drona hears only the first part. Dejected, he lays down his weapons and is subsequently killed..Here, the data is correct. An Ashwatthama has indeed died. But the context is withheld deliberately. The result: misinformation. And the consequences are mortal..It is one of the earliest and most profound illustrations of truth used deceptively (an ancient deepfake) – not by falsifying the fact, but by manipulating the listener's interpretation. In a way, it is the prototype of today's misinformation, where half-truths circulate with powerful effect, often amplified by the algorithms..Today's Ashwatthamas take the form of deepfakes – real people, convincingly mimicked; of phishing emails, eerily tailored by AI to your tone; of voice-cloned calls and videos, shared without verification. Human malice scripts them. AI amplifies them. Even sharp, technically sound individuals fall prey, not because of ignorance but because of misplaced trust in what looks and sounds real..To guard against this epidemic, we need to nurture two capabilities: triangulation and intuition. Triangulate everything. Use multiple primary sources; look for assumptions – clarify what a belief is versus what is verified; read beyond headlines, seek nuance; build cognitive resilience, the truth is rarely a single narrative..We are no longer passive recipients of information – we are participants in its creation and curation. Our responsibility, therefore, is not to be Drona, accepting statements without probing their context, or to be Yudhishthira, letting the pressure of outcome dilute our commitment to truth. Let us counter misinformation by developing a deep understanding of data and context.