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.
All the material that supposedly featured a person, or at least a personality, named Archi Babydoll had been AI generated. The real person whose images had been stolen had no social media presence, and while the accused’s name has been revealed in the press, her’s has thankfully been largely kept out of it. She is an ordinary person, someone who went for years without knowing what a vengeful man had been doing. He had earned lakhs of rupees from distorting and sexualising her likeness, exploiting her through virtual platforms.
Even if this exploitation had not been lucrative, it is ethically horrifying. Whether or not the perpetrator intended for his ex-girlfriend to experience damage to her reputation through public shaming or scrutiny, or to make her vulnerable to any kind of emotional or physical violence ensuing from being recognised by the followers he was cultivating through the material he posted, and whether or not he intended to financially benefit from this activity, there is a dark game of power that motivated it. That much is clear. In a sense, he believed he owned this woman. He created a proxy whom he could control, and continue to control even years after she had exited his life.
This is cybercrime, certainly, but it also falls within the ambit of sexual violence. Fortunately, the authorities seem to feel the same way and the perpetrator will face multiple charges. But it is equally important that the rest of Indian society evolves to understand that such depraved acts are entirely one-sided. Prior relationship history, having at any point shared visuals privately, any individual choice or necessity because of which photos may be posted publicly — none of these mean the blame is ever shared.