Mumbai: Actress Shriya Saran has called out the misuse of artificial intelligence to create explicit, morphed images, revealing how such edits can alter even intimate physical features.
Her remarks come days after Janhvi Kapoor raised concerns over AI-manipulated imagery, bringing renewed attention to the misuse of technology to distort celebrities’ appearances.
Recently, Janhvi called out an AI-manipulated video of her song Chuttamalle from Devara: Part 1.
The clip went viral after her appearance was digitally altered to depict sexually explicit imagery that was absent from the original song.
She condemned the “criminal misuse” of AI to objectify women, describing the manipulated video as “deeply violating” and “bordering on sexual assault”.
Speaking exclusively to News18, Shriya opened up about the growing misuse of AI to create morphed images, drawing from her own experience of being targeted by such digital abuse.
She pointed out that women are often the primary targets, with manipulated images of their bodies becoming subjects of online scrutiny and discussion.
“It’s funny. Sometimes, I don’t even know if it’s me. They change the size of your bs, suddenly the cape that you were wearing is gone or your a looks bigger. You’ve to take it with a pinch of salt. Having said that, it’s annoying and it’s not right,” she said.
“While AI has a lot to give us and a lot to help us with, there’s also a lot it can change for us. It can lead to things that can be dangerous. I think that applies to every technology. With time, we’ve to either learn to live with it or deal with it,” she added.
Reflecting on how the industry has evolved since her 2001 debut in Ishtam, Shriya noted that AI is just one of several changes that have reshaped an actor’s life over the years.
“We didn’t have make-up vans. I didn’t have one in my first three films. We would find a tree and sit under it and have our lunches together. It was beautiful in a way. The positive side is that I still remember my conversations with some of my co-actors and directors. We used to sit together and discuss life and books. Hum recorder laya karte the aur sab saath mein music sunte the,” she said.
“Now, everyone has earphones and you don’t even know what the other person is listening to. Cinema has changed a lot. The style of storytelling has changed a lot,” she continued.
However, Shriya believes the most notable shift has been the growing presence of women in decision-making roles on film sets.
“There are more women behind the camera than in front of it,” she pointed out.
Shriya added, “There are women deciding the kind of story that needs to be told and what they should put money in. You can make as many women-oriented stories as you want but if the people behind the camera are all men, you can’t really label them as a female-led film. We’ve a very long way to go but change has begun.”
