Deepika Padukone, who is now Meta AI voice, says 'tech can't replace human soul'

Speaking at the CNBC TV 18 Global Leadership Summit (GLS) 2025 in Mumbai, Deepika said, "I am so excited about the possibilities. The only thing I believe is that it cannot replace human emotion. I think that's the only place AI will not be allowed or will not be able to match up. Can it do a similar job? Yes, maybe barring human emotion and how an actor would emote because we can't infuse soul into AI.

"In that department, I am kind of an old soul so I am someone who's all for embracing that is new and forward but just when it comes to human soul and emotion, I have a feeling that is irreplaceable but apart from that, I am very excited for what the possibilities are."

On becoming the Meta AI voice, the 39-year-old said, "I am someone whose voice and accent were sort of mocked when I came into the industry and now suddenly I am the voice of Meta AI, strange! But I continue to own it and I think that's probably how and why it happened."

The four other countries where Deepika's Meta AI voice will be used are Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Deepika's comment comes after Farah Khan, the director of her debut Hindi film Om Shanti Om, recently claimed the 'Piku' actress' voice and diction were initially bad.

Speaking to Mukesh Chhabra, Farah had said, "She was very nervous. And she had a problem — her voice was really bad at that time. And her diction was typically that Karnataka-Bangalore, South Indian kind of diction. Her voice and all that… So when I used to watch her audition, her voice would disturb me.

"So I used to turn off the sound and watch her look test. With the sound off — her face, her dancing — beautiful. I mean, Hema ji completely came to my mind… we even called her Dream Girl because she reminded me of Hema ji. So that was the look test, but more or less I had already decided that I was going to take her."

On the work front, Deepika has started shooting for King, which is her sixth collaboration with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Apart from King, Deepika will team-up with Allu Arjun for Atlee's AA22xA6.