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New Indian Express

Misogyny gets an AI boost

It was inevitable that the rise of AI influencers — entirely fabricated entities that exist only virtually — would meet with Indian misogyny fairly quickly. Earlier this year, a social media influencer by the name of Archi Babydoll/Archita Phukan went viral with a clip of her dancing to a Romanian song; then, an image of her meeting American adult actor Kendra Star was also shared. The account had been active since 2020, but with these two posts, much further traction was achieved. The account connected with 1.4 million followers and about three thousand paying subscribers at the height of its popularity, by June and July of this year. But this level of fame meant that the truth came out: Archi Babydoll is purely an AI creation. If she — or rather, it — was the work of some dudebro entrepreneur who objectifies actual women and doesn't see a moral issue in generating a woman-like illusion who is designed specifically to be an object, it would all be par for the course. But in this case, the malice is extremely targeted. It does not arise from a diffuse misogynistic intent that may not know itself by name, even if those who encounter it do. Here, the creator of this figment utilised a real, human face and likeness — that of a woman in Assam. Her family filed a police case upon seeing the profile. The woman's ex-boyfriend, identified as the culprit, has been arrested.