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Himanta Sarma's post comparing Assam highway to F1 track under fire over AI claims. He reacts
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's post drew flak on social media as people alleged the video had been created using Aritificial Intelligence.
A post made by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma heaping praise on the road and highway infrastructure in Assam sparked a controversy recently, after social media users alleged that the clip he shared was created by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The 26-second video clip was posted on Sarma's X account on Tuesday and showed an aerial footage of traffic plying smoothly on a busy highway in Assam. The BJP leader compared the view to the F1 track.
Video in question:
Allegations of AI-generated video
Sarma's post came under fire as social media users alleged that it was created using AI and pointed that the traffic plying on the road was not as per the driving rules in India. Many users also posted pictures of damaged, potholed roads with one user posting a newspaper report with the headline, “Assam ranks third among Indian states having most damaged highways.”
Alleging the video showed wrong-side driving, Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh said, “BJP IT Cell while generating fake AI videos should remember that the penalty to drive the wrong way on National Highway is ₹5000.”
Singh also highlight the condition of roads in Assam as he criticised the CM for ‘AI generated’ video.
In response to the criticism, Sarma shared the video again with the caption, ''Artificial Intelligence (red X) Assam Infrastructure (green tick)".
Sarma's cabinet colleagues also backed him as they hit back at the critics, particularly the Congress with Minister for Water Resources Pijush Hazarika commenting that people with ''negative IQ level of Rahul (Gandhi) and Gaurav Gogoi will obviously struggle to digest the pace at which Assam's infrastructure is transforming. That's why they have conveniently started calling such visuals “AI-generated.”
He also posted a video of a crowded street through which the BJP's Jana Ashirwad Yatra, led by Sarma, recently passed, claiming it was the same road the chief minister had posted about earlier.
''But here's a simple question: will they now call this video AI too? For their information, this clip is from the same road, on the same day, during our Jana Ashirwad Yatra'', Hazarika said.
Minister for Culture Bimal Borah also posted a video captioned ''Silapathar to Jonai- National Highway at night. For Chamchas, even this is AI''.
