I’ve got my eye on you

A deeply unsettling video surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) two weeks ago, depicting a man utilizing AI technology to digitally undress a Muslim woman in a hijab on an Indian train. By merely clicking pictures of her, he could easily sexualize her image and strip it of clothes and dignity. The individual who recorded the video lodged a complaint with the Railway Police, who subsequently reprimanded the perpetrator.

The mere act of witnessing the video elicited a chilling sensation, as I became acutely aware of the potential to become a victim of such a reprehensible crime. Meena Kandasamy, a poet and author whose work "Fieldwork as a Sex Object" tackles this very issue, addressed an event organized by The Hindu on August 21. Kandasamy lamented the erosion of women's agency in the face of pervasive misogyny within the tech industry.

She argued that the concept of bodily autonomy, particularly for women, is now a thing of the past, rendering the world an increasingly terrifying place. As Kandasamy has herself endured a ten-year ordeal of online harassment, including rape threats for her opinions, the gravity of her statement cannot be overstated. The Hindu's recent article on deepfakes and their misuse highlights the devastating impact of AI-generated pornographic clips on victims, often leaving them grappling with shame, trauma, and unwarranted judgment, even from those closest to them.

The Internet's inability to forget once something is disseminated only amplifies this distress. An article in The New York Times reported that Elon Musk's Grok chatbot, over the course of nine days in January, generated and posted 4.4 million images, with at least 41% of them being sexualized images of women. Astonishingly, a staggering 1.8 million nude images of women were created on the platform during this period.

Seema Anand, a London-based author and creator who frequently discusses sex education through her videos, filed an FIR after encountering numerous AI-generated sexual images of herself. The 63-year-old expressed that the incident left her feeling "physically sick". In response to this alarming trend, Tech Policy Press has urged 61 countries' data protection and privacy authorities to take action against AI image-generation companies, asserting that nonconsensual intimate imagery constitutes a serious privacy violation.

In India, under the Digital Data Protection Act, 2023, the circulation of non-consensual sexual content is explicitly prohibited, although the generation of such content remains unaddressed. Nehal Saxena emphasizes the urgent need for technology that can counteract deepfakes, coupled with the establishment of robust laws to protect women.

However, she stresses that these measures alone are insufficient, as women can suffer such profound violations without having an online presence. In a bid to empower women and equip them with visual storytelling skills, the Chennai Photo Biennale is offering a two-day photography fellowship. On August 29 and 30, a two-day workshop in Madurai will be conducted to bolster women's confidence in wielding the camera.

This initiative, which began in 2022, has already benefited numerous women, including baby photographer Chandini Ramesh, who hails from Theni. Despite the progress made, a prevalent gender gap persists in historical archives, necessitating the relentless pursuit of women's stories. The Hindu's archival photo exhibit, "Madras On Stage," currently on display until September 10, dedicates a wall to showcasing women's achievements, reaffirming the organization's commitment to highlighting their contributions.