Mumbai: Actress-turned-humanitarian Somy Ali, known for films such as Anth, Teesra Kaun?, Chupp, Krishna Avtaar and Andolan, has spoken out about the growing misuse of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology. Through her NGO No More Tears, which works to support survivors of abuse and exploitation, Somy says the conversation around digital safety can no longer be limited to celebrity scandals.
According to Somy, deepfakes have become an urgent concern because the gap between what technology can do and what ordinary people can access has disappeared.
“The gap between ‘possible’ and ‘everyday’ has closed,” she says, pointing out that a stolen video and a few minutes can now be enough to digitally place a woman in a situation she was never part of. For her, the biggest danger is the speed at which such content can spread, often before the victim even knows that her image has been misused.
Having worked in the film industry, Somy says she understands that public figures have always dealt with their images being used, edited or caricatured. She draws a clear distinction, however, between satire and digitally manufactured abuse.
She explains that political cartoons and tasteful caricatures have always been part of public life and democratic expression. However, using someone’s face to create an illegal, sexual or humiliating act without consent is an entirely different matter.
“A still from a movie on a wall is not the same as a lie that can destroy a private person,” she says, adding that the line must be drawn when technology is used to fabricate criminal or degrading acts.
Somy believes that the accessibility of AI has made the problem even more serious. While she does not consider artificial intelligence inherently evil, she feels that the technology has advanced faster than the safeguards designed to protect people from its misuse.“The tool is not innocent. The ease is the wound,” she says.
At the same time, Somy sees another side to AI. Through No More Tears, she believes technology can make support more accessible to survivors who may be too frightened to physically approach authorities or support centres. She points to the possibility of online assistance in multiple languages, allowing women to seek help privately and at a time when they feel safe. For Somy, therefore, AI can be both a threat and a powerful tool for social change.
She also believes social media platforms cannot escape responsibility when harmful deepfake content goes viral. According to her, platforms have access to the accounts, files and timestamps involved and must act quickly when non-consensual or illegal content is reported.
“The person who shares is not a spectator. Forwarding is participation,” she says, urging people to pause before sharing questionable content.
Somy believes audiences also have a role to play. She says people do not need to become technology experts to identify potentially harmful content. Instead, they need to take a moment to ask whether a video is satire, whether the person shown actually consented and who could be harmed if the content is shared.
“Verification is not cold. It is protection,” she says.
As AI increasingly becomes part of filmmaking and content creation, Somy believes the industry should not reject the technology altogether. It can help filmmakers restore old films, plan scenes and create content with limited resources. But she insists that creative freedom cannot come at the cost of another person’s dignity or consent.
Her larger message is that technology must serve people, particularly those with the least power.
“At No More Tears, we are not anti-AI. We are anti-abandonment,” she says, stressing that technology should ultimately help create easier and safer avenues for survivors to seek support.
For Somy, the future of AI should not only be about creating increasingly convincing images. It should also be about creating safer spaces for people who need help.
“Let the same country that can generate a face also generate a door — one that opens at night,” she says.
