Ex-lover turns revenge into porn profit, morphs Assam girl into Babydoll Archi

India Today

11 hours ago

Time and again, a lover scorned has sought revenge. But for Pratim Bora, a mechanical engineer from Assam working in Delhi, revenge came pixel by pixel. This story is a cautionary tale of the use of AI technology gone too far. Using just a single photograph of his ex-girlfriend, a girl from Assam, Bora generated sexually explicit images and videos with AI. What began as personal vengeance soon spiralled into profits from the porn industry.advertisementRevenge porn is not that uncommon in this digital age, but this is an unusual story of a young engineer turning to profit from porn after creating AI images for revenge against his former girlfriend. After realising the commercial gains from the AI-generated sexually explicit content, Bora took to producing pornographic content on an industrial scale with just a single image of the girl from Assam.Bora created a fake online persona, Babydoll Archi, of his former girlfriend and began uploading the AI-generated content to pornography websites. The profile exploded in popularity, with many led to believe that the girl from Assam was making her debut in the American adult entertainment industry. The interest in the handle came after Bora somehow managed to get an AI-generated photo of the girl with American adult entertainment star Kenda Lust shared by her.
To protect the Assam girl's identity and privacy, India Today Digital is avoiding the use of her name and blurring the face on images.This story doesn't just recount the meticulous methods of a devious mind, but stands out as a reminder to millions fooled by the use of AI technology — 'Seeing is Believing' ain't true any more.WHAT WAS THE VIRAL BABYDOLL ARCHI ACCOUNT?The Babydoll Archi account, which was created in August 2020, has over 1.3 million followers as of July 14. The account is still functional and shows that its username has been changed twice since its creation five years ago.It has a link-tree page that leads to a link called "actual fans". One of the stories on the page says, "I will post one of my movies for free after 1000 subscribers".The Babydoll Archi Instagram handle went viral after a saree transformation reel synced to Dame Un Grrr — a Spanish song by Romanian singer Kate Linn that is dominating social media platforms — on June 26.The buzz only grew louder after a picture was shared on her Instagram featuring Archi along with popular adult entertainment star Kendra Lust. Now, we know that the photo, like all other images posted on social media platforms, was AI-generated.advertisementHow Bora got Kendra Lust to share the image is a question that will be revealed after interrogation and investigation.From around 82,000 followers, the handle grew to 1.2 million followers in days.After these posts became viral, social media chatter started about the girl from Assam posting from the handle Babydoll Archi was not a real person but a digital persona.However, the near-flawless visuals, animation-like transitions, and heavily stylised expressions fooled millions for months over the internet. And these weren't just images, but videos with the same face.The account also gained traction as it shared details of Babydoll Archi's life. It showed that she travelled around India, with videos and images from Delhi and Mumbai to give the digital persona a real-life feel.When people questioned if the girl was for real, Bora spun an incredible story of human grit and survival.Babydoll Archi said she was "trapped in prostitution for six years and paying Rs 25 lakhs for her freedom" from GB Road, Delhi's red-light district.The image accompanying the post was location-tagged to GB Road, Delhi.The account blew up and the news of an Assam girl joining the adult entertainment industry spread like wildfire. The real-life girl whose face was used by Bora, first for revenge and then for gains, lodged a police complaint.advertisementBora might not have budgeted for the blowback. He changed the account name from Babydoll Archi to Amira Ishtara in July.It was the cyber defamation case that finally revealed the revenge-turned-profit case of Babydoll Archi.HEARTACHE TO DEEPFAKE: STORY OF BABYDOLL ARCHIThe meticulously planned plot started unravelling after the cyber defamation complaint by Bora's former girlfriend, the Assam girl whose name and photo were being misused by him.What followed was a chilling reminder of how powerful and dangerous AI tools can become in the wrong hands.Police from Dibrugarh, where the complaint was lodged, arrested Pratim Bora for allegedly unleashing a calculated digital assault.Bora's uncle said he was a mechanical engineer who was employed in Delhi but was now working from home in Assam.He has been charged with creating and circulating sexually explicit, AI-generated images of the woman across various social media platforms.Dibrugarh SSP-in-charge, Sizal Agarwal, confirmed the use of AI tools in the creation and spread of the morphed images and videos. She said data had been sought from multiple agencies for investigation into the case.advertisement"The arrested accused, Pratim Bora, had used one image of the victim to generate several obscene and pornographic content using various AI software. The victim and the accused have a past acquaintance," Agarwal told the media.It has been reported that the two of them studied together.Bora reportedly used AI platforms like Midjourney AI, Desire AI, and OpenArt AI.He superimposed the Assam girl's face onto pornographic visuals, fabricating the illusion that she was an influencer who was about to debut in the US-based adult entertainment industry.The intent? Pure vengeance at first, and financial gain later."It was made to appear as if the victim had joined the porn industry. On meticulous investigation, we can say all photos and videos circulated on social media are fake and have been made using AI software," said Agarwal.The police officer said Bora used this "as a way of financial gain" and made money from subscriptions for the AI-generated content of the victim that he was uploading.Agarwal said the police seized Bora's financial documents, including his credit and debit card."He might have earned around Rs 10 lakh from the operations," said Agarwal, adding that an investigation was on to uncover the real numbers.advertisementThe amount stated could be just the tip of the iceberg given that Bora succeeded in engagement-farming and was able to rope in Kendra Lust, a super-popular adult entertainer.Bora was tracked and arrested from Tinsukia in upper Assam on the night of July 12.Bora is currently in custody and will be presented in court on Monday. Agarwal said the police planned to seek Bora's seven-day custody for further questioning.Earlier, during interrogation, he admitted to not only creating the images but also setting up fake Gmail accounts and social media profiles to upload and spread them. Investigators are now verifying those fake digital identities and tracing the full extent of the distribution.SSP-in-charge Agarwal issued a public warning that anyone found forwarding or commenting abusively on the fake content, even after knowing it was false, would face legal action.The story of Pratim Bora and Babydoll Archi is a cautionary tale of how technology, particularly to do with AI, can be misused. The story of revenge with porn that turned into business for the accused is also a lesson for people that all that meets the eye is not what they seem to be, particularly in the age of AI.- EndsTrending Reel