Not planning any law to regulate AI growth in India: IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said that though AI had proven to be an enabler of the digital and innovation ecosystem, it had ethical concerns and associated risks.

“AI has ethical concerns and risks due to issues such as bias and discrimination in decision-making, privacy violations, lack of transparency in AI systems, and questions about responsibility for harm caused by it,” Vaishnaw informed the lower house.

Also read | India should draw up its own blueprint for AI, say industry veterans, experts

These concerns, the minister said, had been highlighted by the National Strategy for AI report released in June 2018, adding that various central and state government agencies had started efforts to standardise responsible AI development.

“Additionally, NITI Aayog has published a series of papers on the subject of Responsible AI for All. However, the government is not considering bringing a law or regulating the growth of artificial intelligence in the country,” he said.

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In a separate reply to the lower house of the Parliament, the Minister of State for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government was harnessing the potential of AI to “provide personalized and interactive citizen-centric services”. Though there are no “guiding principles” set for state or union ministries when it comes to developing or deployment of AI solutions, they have been encouraged to have a clear understanding of the objective and scope for which the technology will be used, Chandrasekhar said.

Earlier this week, experts had written an open letter saying India should draw up its own blueprint for artificial intelligence (AI) development.

The letter was signed by Sridhar Vembu, CEO, Zoho Corporation; Rajiv Kumar, chairman, Pahle India Foundation and Sharad Sharma, cofounder, iSPIRT Foundation, among others.

It urged all stakeholders – IT researchers, policymakers, academicians in other disciplines, industry leaders, and members of the civil society – to join the ‘vital debate’ on how to harness the power of AI positively which in turn will help evolve a national consensus on how best to utilise the technology for achieving the country’s goals and meeting the aspirations of the young population.