When Fun Turns Fatal: Cyber Experts Expose The Dark Side Of AI challenges

Due to the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media-driven challenges, millions of users willingly post their selfies, videos, and some even biometric data to the online world.

At first glance, apps that scan faces and bodies and camera filters that require many angles of a person’s image seem harmless, all in the name of fun. However, what we might assume is harmless could present significant consequences of personal privacy and digital security.

Experts warn that these platforms can collect facial data, body topology, and behavioral patterns that can be exploited at another time. In many instances, AI-powered tools can create duplicate identities or phony accounts, fabricate life events with pictures taken from an unsuspecting target, or even apply for loans and medical claims in someone else’s name. No performance issue is more concerning than the rise of deepfake technology that uses a person's likeness to create real-life videos that show inappropriate or misleading situations without a person's consent.

Cybersecurity experts agree that the main obstacle is user awareness. Although AI has a plethora of advantages across industries, it also has the misuse of manipulating one’s identity in the spotlight as one of the most burgeoning issues. In a country like India, with some of the highest social media users in the world, risk will be compounded by only a limited understanding of how people can exploit your data after it is shared online.

Organizations like Connecting Cyber Networks have worked to highlight those risks through campaigns and training programs encouraging citizens to be mindful before applying digital trends that request personal pictures or biometric scans. According to founder Ashish Kumar Saini, protecting someone's online identity should be considered a baseline behavior. “Your identity is more valuable than you think,” he states, noticing the importance for people to think twice before submitting private data to apps or platforms that offer no protection.

With the advancement of artificial intelligence, experts have good advice on simple preventative measures: don't provide unnecessary biometric data, use secure systems, vet applications, and stay current on new cybersecurity measures. What starts as a harmless activity on social media can and often does become a digital trap, and keeping a sharp eye based on your instincts is one of the best defenses.