Why in News?

• With the G20 Summit on the corner, the Indian PM’s call for a global framework on expansion of “ethical” artificial intelligence (AI) tools aims at taking a leadership position on the need for regulating sectors such as AI and cryptocurrencies.
• The PM was speaking at the Business 20 (B20) Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), ahead of the G20 Summit next month.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Responsible AI for All
• Governing AI - A Blueprint for India
• Shift in India’s own Position on Regulating AI
• Highlights of the PM Address at the B20

Responsible AI for All:

• In 2018, NITI Aayog released the National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence (NSAI), highlighting the roadmap to adopt AI in five public sectors in a manner that is safe and dispenses benefits to all citizens.
• The strategy document coined the “AI for All” mantra, to be the governing benchmark for future AI design, development, and deployment in India.
  • A part of this strategy was to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI.
• As a follow-up to NSAI, the NITI Aayog identified principles (RAI principles) for responsible design, development, and deployment of AI in India, and set out enforcement mechanisms to operationalise these principles.
• As the next step 7 principles were formulated:
  • Safety and reliability,
  • Inclusivity and non-discrimination,
  • Equality, privacy and security,
  • Transparency,
  • Accountability,
  • Protection and
  • Reinforcement of positive human values were identified to determine the efficacy of the approach recommended and identify challenges.

Governing AI - A Blueprint for India:

• India is experiencing a significant technological transformation that presents a tremendous opportunity to leverage innovation for economic growth.
• Policymakers across jurisdictions have stepped up regulatory scrutiny of generative AI tools, prompted by Chat GPT’s explosive launch.
• The concerns being flagged fall into three broad heads: privacy, system bias and violation of intellectual property rights.
• In this backdrop, Tech major Microsoft (which has a stake in OpenAI) had recently floated a blueprint for AI governance in India titled “Governing AI: A Blueprint for India”.
• This paper offers some of our ideas and suggestions as a company, placed in the Indian context.
• The paper proposed regulations prescribing safety and security requirements, with post-deployment safety and security monitoring and protection.
• Microsoft has offered to share its “specialised knowledge” about advanced AI models to help the government define the regulatory threshold.

Shift in India’s own Position on Regulating AI:

• Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MietY) had said that it is not considering any law to regulate the AI sector.
  • The MeitY admitted that though AI had ethical concerns and associated risks, it had proven to be an enabler of the digital and innovation ecosystem.
• The PM’s address at the B20 shows a shift in New Delhi’s own position - from not considering any legal intervention on regulating AI in the country to moving in the direction of formulating regulations based on a “risk-based, user-harm” approach.
• Part of this shift was reflected in a TRAI’s consultation paper, which said that the Centre should set up a domestic statutory authority to regulate AI in India through the lens of a “risk-based framework”.
• TRAI also called for collaborations with international agencies and governments of other countries for forming a global agency (with regulatory oversight) for the “responsible/ ethical use” of AI.
  • The TRAI’s recommendation is broadly in line with an approach enunciated by Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT).
  • He had called for an international regulatory body for AI, akin to that overseeing nuclear non-proliferation.
• This also comes amid indications that Centre is looking to introduce the Digital India Bill that is expected to replace the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
  • The Bill draws a clear distinction between different types of online intermediaries, including AI-based platforms, and issues specific regulations for each of these intermediaries.

Highlights of the PM Address at the B20:

• The PM called for a global framework to ensure the ethical use of AI as he flagged challenges of skilling and reskilling, and algorithmic bias and its impact on society.
• Global business communities and governments have to ensure the expansion of ethical AI across different sectors.
• Emphasising the need to deepen mutual trust and cooperation between countries, he called for a similar, integrated approach to deal with issues related to cryptocurrencies.
• He cited the examples of the aviation and financial sectors which have seen global coordination.
• Cautioning against a “self-centric” approach, he said that if businesses and governments don’t shoulder global responsibility, it could result in a “new colonial model”.