Guwahati: An AI-generated phone conversation between AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee is being circulated on social media, misleadingly portrayed as a real discussion between the two. In the viral audio, Maliwal appears to recount an incident of assault in front of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his wife Sunita Kejriwal, and requests Rathee not to make a video about it. The conversation also touches on Rathee's 'payments' and their timely receipt.
BOOM investigated the audio using two AI detection tools, Itisaar and Contrails. Both confirmed that the audio is AI-generated and not an authentic conversation between Maliwal and Rathee. On May 13, Maliwal filed a complaint with Delhi Police, claiming she was attacked by Arvind Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar, at the CM's residence. Kumar has denied the accusation and has filed his own complaint.
Kumar was arrested on May 18, 2024, and is currently in police custody. Following these events, Dhruv Rathee released a video questioning the validity of Maliwal's allegations. The viral audio has emerged in this context.
A user on X shared the AI-generated audio with a Hindi caption, which translates to, "Delhi. Video of Swati Maliwal and Dhruv Rathee goes viral. Swati Maliwal asked Dhruv Rathee not to make the video at your request. The beating happened at the behest of Kejriwal and Sunita. Dhruv makes videos on the agenda of the opposition."
The same claim was also shared on Facebook and can be viewed here.
BOOM analyzed the audio and noticed discrepancies indicating it was synthetic. At the 0:09 mark, there is a noticeable jump-cut where Maliwal's voice overlaps while mentioning the presence of Arvind and Sunita Kejriwal.
Using the deepfake detection tool Itisaar from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur, BOOM found that the audio was indeed a deepfake. Deepfake researchers at Contrails corroborated these findings, confirming the phone call was an "AI audio spoof" with clear patterns of AI voice cloning in both speakers.
This story is republished from Boom as part of the Shakti Collective. Read the original story here.
