Name: Urvi Mahajan

Roll no.: 2023/06/081

Word-Count: 1666

The future of AI in INDIA

From ‘Hey Google/Siri’ to getting recommendations based on your likes to encircling different aspects of human
life. The first thought that strikes our mind when we talk about AI is what we have seen in movies, wherein huge
metallic robots fight for their claims over the planet. Artificial intelligence refers to the stimulation of human
intelligence by software-coded heuristics. Artificial intelligence's idealist characteristic is its ability to rationalize.
It is based on the principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and
execute tasks. AI is continuously evolving to benefit many different industries. Machines are wired using a cross-
disciplinary approach based on mathematics, computer science, linguistics, psychology, and more. Its
applications are endless and the technology is applied in different sectors and industries. It is being used in the
healthcare industry financial industry agriculture sector manufacturing industry etc.

From Turing test to ChatGPT

What seemed to be mere fiction years back has now been reshaping and redefining industries and human lives. It
has come a long way from its conceptual beginnings to becoming a key driver in the technological revolution.
This all started when Aristotle gave us the logic of syllogism which later became the basis of logical reasoning.
But the breakthrough is considered the Turing Test in the year 1950 where Alan Turing tested for a machine that
could mimic human actions. This was followed by many major as well as minor research in this particular field
with John McCarthy being the first person to coined the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’. Many scientists contributed
to its development with the latest being the launch of OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022 to provide a
chat-based interface to its GPT-3.5 LLM. Today's tangible developments -- some incremental, some disruptive -
- are advancing AI's ultimate goal of achieving artificial general intelligence. Along these lines, neuromorphic
processing shows promise in mimicking human brain cells, enabling computer programs to work simultaneously
instead of sequentially.

The need for rules and regulations

British physicist Stephen Hawking warned, "Unless we learn how to prepare for, and avoid the potential risks, AI
could be the worst event in the history of our civilization." With AI becoming an indispensable part of our lives,
though it makes our lives easier but comes with many disadvantages of its own. Without properly framed AI
regulations, it can give you biased answers, spread misinformation and destabilize the world. The question arises
when the regulations are thought to be imposed on AI: Should technology with near-human intelligence but no
moral compass have free reign in the world?

Imposition of regulations becomes important as with AI being readily available to us it also poses the risk that a
6-year-old has access to things which can have catastrophic results. AI is known to give biased results based on
the inherent biases in the data it is trained on. There have been several instances of racial and gender
discrimination. When AI was asked to generate an image of a doctor treating kids with Ebola, it showed a white
doctor treating malnourished black kids and when asked to produce a converse of it, it failed. AI has and will
cause a disruption in the employment market, it might in the short run reduce human effort and labour but from
taking long-term perspective it might widen the economic gap in the world. Many of us are unaware of the fact
that how the advancement in technology has put us in a vulnerable section with all our data being leaked. We all
are under social surveillance in one form or the other. And the cases of impersonation are another reason to worry.
Recently the deep fake video of the South Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna seemed too real to be untrue. This
is a warning bell for the future where fake speeches can impact election results and the justice system. AI promises
to change the ways of warfare in the years to come. Shortly, AI can be used to create ‘slaughterbots’ or robots
that kill targets autonomously without human intervention. The above-listed reasons give us a solid case of why
rules and regulations should be imposed in the first place.

The Western Way:

All the countries are still grappling with the issue of the imposition of regulations of AI. AI regulations in the
countries of the European Union, Brazil, United Kingdom shall be referred to as the Western system. European
Union employs a risk-based approach based on risk inflicted which is further categorized into four categories
which are: unacceptable risk, high risk, limited risk and low risk. These measures are rooted in the Eurocentric
viewpoint. Different rules for different categories of risk are issued. For the unacceptable risk prohibited classes
of activities are imposed, a regulated classes of activities for unacceptable risks and a simple set of disclosure-
based obligations for the low risks. A similar pattern of identifying activities and making rules according to how
the AI application must function is followed in Canada. Brazil too has adopted the method of categorization of
risks as that of the European Union. As of now no specific laws for governing the general public’s usage exist in
the United States. EU AI Act is similar to the American AI Bill which is yet to be passed and is directed towards
the developers’ responsibility for calibrating and advancing AI technology. The Western model is a clear set of
rules which a rule-abiding society will undoubtedly comply with along with a set of punishments for the few who
violate the law.

The Eastern Way:

The Eastern model is more open and Japan’s model is based on the Social Principles of Human-Centric AI. These
principles include human-centricity, data protection, safety, fair competition, accountability and innovation.
China is one of the first countries to have acceded to regulations for AI in its country. China is not just focused
on the proliferation of AI and its innovative use cases; the country has also been silently leading the pack and
making its mark on the AI regulatory landscape. China passed and enforced three distinct regulatory measures on
the national, regional and local levels. China cracked down on “deepfake” and generative technology through
national-level legislation. In 2023, China alone enforced multiple pieces of national regulations. China itself wants
to set a precedent and thus has been involved in some of the earliest enforcement of AI regulations. The Eastern
Model goes on to prescribe the kind of values that should be upheld and promoted by artificial intelligence. This
model embraces the overlap between the legality of rules and the morality of rules. The legal system which
possesses this overlap is often referred to as the Hindu Jurisprudence by legal philosopher Harrop Freeman.

The Indian Way?

Elon Musk said,” Regulations are put into effect after something terrible has happened. If that’s the case for AI it
may be too late to put the regulations in place”.

India has taken a slightly different approach to the growth and proliferation of AI. While the government is keen
to regulate generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Bard, there is no plan for a codified law to curb the growth
of AI. IT Minister Ashwin Vaishnav recently stated that the NITI Aayog, the planning commission of India,
issued some guiding documents on AI. The development, adoption and promotion of AI have been visibly high
on the list of priorities of the Indian Government, an approach that rests on the premise that AI has the potential
to make lives easier and make society more equal. The Union Government’s initiative of Digital India pivoted on
digitalizing and transforming India into a digital economy. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry set up
an Artificial Intelligence Task Force in August 2017 intending to ‘embed AI in our Economic, Political and Legal
thought processes so that there is systemic capability to support the goal of India becoming one of the leaders of
AI-rich economies’.

The need for regulations is the need of this time and India is no exception to it. NITI Aayog released PART I:
Principles for Responsible AI, an approach paper that explores the various ethical considerations of deploying AI
solutions in India. PART II: Operationalizing Principles for Responsible AI, the actions that need to be taken by
both government and the private sector, in partnership with research institutes, to cover regulatory and policy
interventions, capacity building, incentivizing ethics by design and creating frameworks for compliance with
relevant AI standards. In 2023 the government enacted a new privacy law, the Digital Personal Data Protection
Act, which it can leverage to address some of the privacy concerns concerning AI platforms.

Rajeev Chandrashekhar (Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT)
said the country is working on a draft regulation for artificial intelligence. Now the time has come for strict
implementation and formulation of the rules and regulations, and India at this point should learn certain features
adopted by China. And it’s time for India to look east because the west is not per the Indian Way.
Based on the aforementioned facts it is evident that the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is imperative in
the current era of never-before-seen technological advancements. Despite AI holding significant prospects for
progress and innovation, its uncontrolled expansion engenders various ethical and societal implications. However,
India’s approach to AI development that enables it to grow while at the same time ensuring responsible
deployment reflects pragmatism in exploiting its potential. By blending Eastern models that are human-centric
with risk assessment-based Western frameworks, India can set towards AI governance. To ensure balanced
innovation alongside ethical considerations, India must adopt international best practices only after tailoring them
to meet her specific needs. As the world ponders upon the consequences of artificial intelligence, India’s focus on
fostering a regulatory environment that holds accountable those involved in AI and looks out for individual rights
depicts it as a leading proponent in creating technology-driven future societies that are positive.