AI regulation in India: How Centre plans to protect citizens
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the past few months has increased discussions about regulating AI. Governments are wary of how unregulated AI would affect their citizens. European countries, China, and the US have been working on controlling AI systems. What about India, then? According to Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India will also regulate AI.
Why does this story matter?
Indians have been very welcoming of the recent advances in AI. India houses 6.32% of ChatGPT users, the second-largest proportion in the world According to a recent survey by Microsoft, over 80% of Indian workers are ready to delegate their tasks to AI. Discussions on AI regulation in India are significant, considering the widespread acceptance of the technology in the country.
AI will be regulated to ensure it doesn't harm citizens
"We will regulate AI to ensure it doesn't harm digital citizens," Chandrasekhar said while giving a presentation on India's digital transformation in the last nine years. He said the government will ensure AI is "used for good and not for harm." Previously, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the Indian government is considering regulating various aspects of AI.
AI regulations are required to create a safe cyberspace
Chandrasekhar highlighted that India currently has 85 crore internet users. This number is set to reach 120 crores by 2025. "Toxicity and criminality have significantly increased on the internet. We won't let attempts to harm digital citizens succeed," he said. The increased availability of AI tools has shot up AI-related crimes. Therefore, a safe cyberspace cannot be possible without regulating AI.
India is leaning toward a separate regulation for AI platforms
In two months, two union ministers have spoken about the need to regulate AI. This is in contrast to the country's previous stance of leaving the sector unregulated. Last month, Vaishnaw said India is leaning toward bringing separate legislation to regulate AI platforms. It is unclear what exactly the legislation will encompass, but it will cover algorithm bias and copyright issues.
Sam Altman and PM Narendra Modi discussed AI regulation
The minister's comments came a day after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the event at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi), Altman spoke about his conversation with Modi. "We also felt the need to think about global regulation, which prevents some of the downsides from happening," he said.
