Republic Bharat a Hindi news channel showed some pictures made by AI. These pictures showed world leaders like Putin and Zelensky along with others like Elon Musk and a fake Donald Trump. The pictures made it look like they were all at the Kumbh Mela with India’s Prime Minister. The channel showed these during its coverage of the actual religious event.
The channel didn’t say the pictures were real but showed them as part of a story about the Kumbh Mela. It’s not clear why they made these pictures or showed them that way. Some people thought it was more of an advertisement than a real news report by showing the world leaders with the Indian Prime Minister. The broadcast was about the real Kumbh Mela event.
People didn’t like that the channel used AI pictures to show leaders doing something that didn’t happen. They felt like it mixed real news with made up stuff especially with important people and this could confuse viewers. This raised questions about if it’s okay for news channels to use AI and how they should make sure people understand what they’re seeing is real or not.