Yami Gautam has asked media houses and photographers not to use artificial intelligence to edit, modify or improve her images clicked at the public events.
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On October 4, 2026, the actor posted on social media that Photographs of me are to be used in their original form I want that no one alters a person’s image or likeness with AI without that person knowing.
Yami’s statement was made at a time when concerns have been mounting in the Indian film industry over the use of AI to forge photos and videos of celebrities. The controversy had erupted when a morphed video of Janhvi Kapoor from the song Chuttamalle was shared widely online.
Yami Gautam’s Request to the Media
Yami revealed a hard-hitting message to the press.
She requested that publications not use artificial intelligence to edit or retouch images from public appearances and she asked that original images be utilized.
What she was worried about wasn’t necessarily entirely fake images. She also referenced AI modifications or alterations to actual pictures.
The star stated that it should not be done to change or manipulate any person’s image or likeness using AI technology without their permission and knowledge. She concluded the message by saying, ‘Thank you to the media for respecting my decision.’
This is a particular statement as AI editing can now be used for a variety of different reasons. Changes could be as little as editing faces, skin, body, clothes, or lighting. The individual featuring in the photograph has no way of knowing that they have been edited.
Her Expression Follows Janhvi Kapoor Deepfake Row
Yami’s statement came just days after an AI-morphed video of Jr NTR and Janhvi Kapoor went viral.
In the footage, that was uploaded online, Janhvi appeared physically and represented content that was never featured in the song or in the film itself, which was Chuttamalle from the 2024 Telugu movie Devara: Part 1.
Jr NTR said that he was very angry about the incident and that action would be taken against the culprits.
Janhvi also addressed the controversy, emphasising consent and personal boundaries. Many celebrities, such as Chiranjeevi and Vijay Deverakonda, condemned the use of AI technology.
The debate has now grown into a broader conversation about what should happen when AI is used to change a person’s appearance against their will.
Yami Wants Her Original Appearance Preserved
Yami’s message is lil different from the Janhvi deepfake controversy.
For Janhvi, the edited videos were made from the film footage available. While the actual pictures of Yami during the public event can be altered using AI. She does not want media to create an AI-modified image of her even from the pictures taken in public appearance.
Her request demonstrates that the worries about AI are not just related to deepfake pornography.
An actor’s face and body are often released to the public, but that does not imply the actor never would have foreseen each computerized alteration of his or her image.
One can modify a photograph to alter a person’s face, change their shape, change the colour of their clothing or make them look like something that was never present in the original photograph.
Yami is just not comfortable with the right to control the way she is depicted.
Growing Concerns Around Celebrity Images
Celebrity photography has also seen a rise in the use of AI as image-generation and editing tools become more accessible.
Changing the content of an image convincingly might have previously needed specialist editing software and some know-how. Now AI solutions can edit images for all kinds of things in seconds.
It has posed fresh concerns for the actors as photographs clicked at events, award functions, film launches and promotional programmes are available online.
Can I Get a Photo Once Published? If you publish a photo it is then able to be downloaded, altered and shared on many places.
The source itself may be authentic; however the manipulated version may lead viewers to a completely different perception.
The Problem With “Enhancement”
Another important part of Yami’s statement is when she uses the words “alter or enhance”.
It doesn’t have to, to be fake.
A media outlet might employ an AI-based program to, for example, blur or soften a person’s face, adjust the lighting of a person’s face, modify the facial details or something else in the face in the photo, and publish the image of a real person.
While the end product may look more refined, it might also no longer reflect a accurate picture of how that individual looked at the time.
Yami is requesting media to refrain from doing this without a natural.
This, in turn, raises a wider question about where the line should be drawn between regular photo editing and A I manipulation.
AI and Consent
Consent is one of the central issues at the centre of the intensifying debate around AI generated images.
When someone allows a photographer to take their picture, it is generally not an agreement to use that image for anything else. That right is only in relation to how the image is captured and for the purposes for which it was meant.
This is especially relevant when the evolution changes the person’s or individual’s appearance or produces a misrepresentation of the individual or individual.
Yami’s statement advocates for a principle that ought to be obvious: that people should be informed when their image has been altered by machines and should be able to influence those alterations.
Other Celebrities Have Also Raised Concerns
Yami is not the only person to address AI manipulation.
Many members of the film fraternity had harsh reactions to the Janhvi Kapoor deepfake brouhaha.
Responding to the incident, Chiranjeevi appealed to the entire Telugu film industry to be united and also proposed a welfare group that could aid the victims of such content, collaborate with cyber-crime police and facilitate the removal of the content.
Vijay Deverakonda too hit out at the Janhvi video and demanded strict action on the accused who are using technology to digitally hunt people.
The reactions suggest the entertainment industry is now taking AI manipulation more seriously than a decade ago when many considered it a mere internet joke.
Yami Gautam’s National Award
Yami’s statement is also coming just after a key milestone of her career.
The actor, who was honoured with the National Award for Best Actress recently, was one of the recipients of the mega award in Hindi cinema.
Her most recent comments come at a time when she is also still in the spotlight.
She is also gearing up for the release of her upcoming film Nayyi Navelli that is set to hit the screens on October 16.
Yami’s Upcoming Film
Nayyi Navelli is available to watch online on Balaji Mohan Nayyi Navelli Yami is Mohini a wife who is newly wed to the Awasthi family.
Starts out as family drama before turning into dark supernatural folk-horror.
Starring: Adinath M. Kothare, Anurag Thakur, Sunita Rajwar, Mita Vasisth, Aaditya Kulshreshth, Susmita Mukherjee and Prateek Pachori. The movie is produced by Aanand L. Rai and Himanshu Sharma.
Why Her Message Matters
Yami Gautam’s post is shorter, however, this comes at a time when the reckoning of ‘digital identity’ and, more specifically, AI-generated media has become much more glaring.
Public photos are standard operating procedure for celebrities. But as use of generative AI has grown, those images can be altered in ways that were hard to do just a few years ago.
