About the lecture

We live in an age where information travels faster than ever before, yet trust in institutions, experts, and even objective facts is steadily eroding. Social media platforms reward content that attracts attention rather than accuracy, while artificial intelligence can now generate persuasive text, images, audio, and video at an unprecedented scale. 

Together, lies, likes, and large language models are reshaping how we create, consume, and share information. This lecture examines the technological, psychological, and societal forces driving the crisis of truth, its implications for democracy and social cohesion, and the urgent need to foster critical thinking and digital literacy.

It also explores the vital role that institutions such as Azim Premji University can play in nurturing informed, questioning, and ethically grounded citizens capable of navigating an increasingly complex information landscape.

About the speaker

Vikas Swarup is a former Indian diplomat, television host, and internationally bestselling author. 

During a distinguished 35-year career in the Indian Foreign Service, he held several senior positions, including Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, High Commissioner to Canada, and Secretary (West).

From 2021 to 2023, he hosted Diplomatic Dispatch on Sansad TV, India’s parliamentary channel, making geopolitics and diplomacy accessible to a wide audience.

He is the author of Q&A, adapted into the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire; Six Suspects, adapted as the acclaimed series The Great Indian Murder; The Accidental Apprentice; and The Girl with the Seven Lives. His books have been translated into 47 languages across the world.

He has been awarded four honorary doctorates in recognition of his literary and public service contributions.

He remains a respected voice on contemporary geopolitical issues, regularly contributing through lectures, influential articles, television appearances, and widely followed digital platforms.