INTRODUCTION
Countries across the globe are on the move to develop a regulatory framework for ethical AI, without trying to sabotage the expansion of AI into multiple domains. While addressing the NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum (NTFL) 2024 in Mumbai, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar said that the Indian government is actively working on drafting a regulatory framework for Artificial Intelligence and is set to unveil it in July 2024.[1]
AI can be categorised in various forms and types based on specific needs in a sector or industry. Artificial Intelligence can be described as a machine-based system that relies on express input/prompt to generate an output based on different content, recommendations, and predictions. It is trained to perform tasks with human-level precision and intelligence.
As per a report published by EY, it is estimated “that GenAI could add $1.2 – 1.5 trillion to India’s GDP”[2] by 2030. Additionally, AI is changing how people do their jobs, especially with the advent of Generative AIs such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Jenni.AI, and many more![3] This indicates a massive shift in employment skills as well as job titles in the coming decade.
India initially was irresolute in its stance towards AI regulation. But later, Rajeev Chandrashekar (IT Minister) made it clear that there would be a regulatory framework to protect users from risks posed by unregulated AI models in the market. Since the DPDPA, 2023 was passed, the need for AI regulation has gained momentum in India. This can also be attributed to Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI visiting India last year while on a global tour to promote and pitch the OpenAI tool.[4]
THE CURRENT POLICY LANDSCAPE: GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
The government has been actively promoting AI initiatives to be included in all sectors to achieve a modern dream. The potential presented by applied AI technology is immense, especially in a country like ours. There has been a revolution in setting up research labs, think tanks and startups to specifically create and benefit the Indian community to reach global standards of AI.
The Meity has launched its Digital India Initiatives intending to provide digital literacy, governance and independence to the rural population of India. The initiatives rely upon and draw strength from its nine pillars.[5]
India is focusing on the principles of ‘inclusion’ and ‘empowerment’ with the program called “AI for All”.[6] One of the notable things is the various public and private sector-produced AI tools, that improve the delivery of basic services, especially those relating to health, education, and agriculture to crores nationwide.[7] ‘Uzhavan’, ‘e-Paarvai’, ‘Niramai’, ‘Aquaconnect’, ‘Gnani’ and ‘CogniABle’ are some of the AI tools[8] and startups bringing about transformation to people and their livelihoods.
NITI Aayog has been an active player in the AI field especially in the past decade. The government in 2018-19 directed NITI Aayog to establish a National Program on AI to research and understand new technologies. This led to the draft of the National Strategy for AI to be released in 2018 by NITI Aayog. AIRAWAT (Artificial Intelligence Research, Analytics and Knowledge Dissemination Platform)[9] is the AI supercomputer that was installed in Pune.
LEGISLATIONS, LEGAL CONCERNS & IMPLICATIONS
It can be understood from the risk-based approach adopted by the EU AI Act, that the waters surrounding AI are still uncharted and the risks posed have only been theorised. The risks have started surfacing as cybercrimes, one good example being the Deepfake fiasco relating to famous personalities such as Rashmika Mandanna[10], Alia Bhatt, and even PM Narendra Modi[11] has not been spared.[12] Incidents like this raise the need for ‘digital literacy’. Currently, under the IT Act, 2000 and IT Rules, 2021 sharing of deepfake media is a punishable offence under Section 66D[13] read with Rule 3(1)(b)(vii)[14] and Rule 3(2)(b)[15], penalising the act with imprisonment of three years and a fine payable of Rs. 1 Lakh.
Another legislation that applies to AI in India currently is the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. Furthermore, the draft for the Digital India Act[16] is yet to be presented. The IT Minister has assured on multiple occasions that the Digital India Act is the way forward in terms of AI regulation. This Act will also address and curb the limitations presented by the IT Act of 2000. It is speculated that the Act will adopt ‘principles and rule-based approaches’.
AI ADVISORY (MARCH 2024)
Initially, in July 2023, Rajeev Chandrashekar made a statement about adopting an approach of not regulating the application of AI, but rather focusing on regulating user harm from the AI tech. On March 1, 2024, an AI Advisory was issued by Meity for large AI models to seek government approval before roll-out in the market. This came after a specific incident involving the content generated in response to a prompt by Google’s Gemini. Additionally, concerns regarding the performance of Ola’s ‘Krutrim’[17]genAI platform have also been raised.
Later, on March 4, 2024, the IT Minister, clarified that startups need not comply with the advisory. It is important to keep in mind that this advisory is just a suggestion, and hence is not legally binding. The advisory did receive backlash from several prominent people in the AI industry, calling it an ‘anti-innovation’ and ‘bad move by India’.[18]
THE WAY FORWARD
During his address at the NTFL in Mumbai, Chandrashekar emphasised three key points that the government is focusing on for the draft of the AI legislation[19] – Harness AI for economic growth; Address the potential risks and hams; and Cultivate Indian talent to have an edge over global competitiveness.
Furthermore, PM Narendra Modi has highlighted the significance of AI in the Indian startup ecosystem.[20] He full-heartedly embraces the digital and AI revolution that has gripped the world. The AI storm gripping the country needs to be critically analysed for the benefit of the common public in this country:
- To have legislation as well as a governing body specifically dedicated towards matters involving Artificial Intelligence. There should be no overlap of multiple legislation as it might lead to the creation and exploitation of loopholes or inconsistencies within it. India can refer to the latest ‘EU AI Act 2024’[21] by the European Union.
- The ethics, security, privacy, and governance qualities of the AI should be maintained without compromising its quality, access, and accuracy.
- Currently, the AIs are mostly concentrated in the commercial space. Though the government is trying to leverage AI for other purposes including agriculture and health,[22] there needs to be an incentive to engineer better models of AI within India.
- The AI in India should prioritise the local population and cultural references. Currently, most generative AIs generate prompts or content as per Western standards.
- The issue of sensitive content – political, national security, etc. should be restricted to the general population. The bias and discrimination shown by AI should be eliminated. Therefore, a ‘risk-based approach’[23] to ensure the same should be adopted in the upcoming legislation.
CONCLUSION
India is still figuring out its stance regarding AI regulation through legislation. Certain facets of AI need stricter regulation, as the liability tied to its use by cybercriminals cannot be fathomed. India while being ranked the 8th country in terms of AI research and application, still struggling to keep up with the daily advancement in AI tech’s capabilities.
The Digital India Act (Bill), 2023, is a beacon of shining light at the moment. There should be a multi-layered strategic approach towards tackling AI and its misuse. Aspects of privacy, personal data, developmental and ethical issues, liability of company or creator (in case of ‘rogue’ AI), and liability regarding content of generative AI are at the forefront. Simultaneously issues and risks such as cyber-attacks, and crimes have started incorporating and manipulating AI to aid their malicious agenda.
It’s our responsibility as a society to understand our creation of AI technology and ensure a positive impact. It is ultimately our decision to prevent its abuse, and that can only happen through a proper law. Therefore, it is time that the Digital India Act (Bill) of 2023 be brought to reality, as it’ll serve as the lighthouse for India to survive the AI challenges.
Author(s) Name: Radhika Subhash Tapkir (Army Institute of Law, Mohali)
Reference(s):
[1] ‘Centre working on draft AI regulation framework: Three things the government is focusing on’ Times of India (Mumbai, 21 February 2021) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/centre-working-on-draft-ai-regulation-framework-three-things-the-government-is-focussing-on/articleshow/107862302.cms> accessed on 5 March 2024
[2] Jeff Maggioncalda ‘GenAI may add $1.2 – 1.5 trillion to India’s GDP in next 7 years’ The Economic Times (6 February 2024) <https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/genai-may-add-1-2-1-5-trillion-to-indias-gdp-in-next-7-years/articleshow/107437711.cms?from=mdr> accessed on 9 March 2024
[3] Farhad Manjoo, ‘ChatGPT Is Already Changing How I Do My Job’ The New York Times (New York, 21 April 2023) <https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/opinion/chatgpt-journalism.html> accessed 5 March 2024
[4] Raghav Nair ‘OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says India can play ‘huge role’ in defining international AI regulation framework’ The Economic Times (India, 19 June 2023)
<https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/open-ai-ceo-sam-altman-says-india-can-play-huge-role-in-defining-international-ai-regulation-framework/articleshow/101101448.cms?from=mdr> accessed on 6 March 2024
[5] ‘e-Governance’ Drishti IAS (17 October 2019) <https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/e-governance-1> accessed 4 March 2024
[6] ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ India AI (India, 21 August 2019)
<https://indiaai.gov.in/research-reports/national-strategy-for-artificial-intelligence/> accessed 4 March 2024
[7] Ibid 4.
[8]Jibu Elias ‘AI for ALL: How India is carving its own path in the global AI race’ OECD.AI Policy Observatory (30 January 2023) <https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/india> accessed on 4 March 2024
[9] ‘AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’ puts India among top supercomputing league’ Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi, 24 May 2023) <https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1926942> accessed on 5 March 2024
[10] Aishwarya Giridhar & Nidhi Singh ‘Rashmika Mandanna’s deepfake: Regulate AI, don’t ban it’ The Indian Express (Delhi, 8 November 2023) <https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/rashmika-mandannas-deepfake-regulate-ai-dont-ban-it-9017666/> accessed on 10 March 2024
[11] Diwakar & Akhilesh Singh ‘Deefakes can create crisis in a diverse society like ours: PM Modi’ Times of India (Delhi, 18 November 2023) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/deepfakes-can-create-crisis-in-diverse-society-like-ours-pm-modi/articleshow/105300063.cms> accessed on 10 March 2024
[12] Anurag Tripathi ‘Deepfake: The Digital Nuclear Weapon in Indian Politics and Society’ The Social Chai (6 February 2024) <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deepfake-digital-nuclear-weapon-indian-politics-society-jhnvf/> accessed 10 March 2024
[13]Information Technology Act 2000, s 66D
[14] The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021
[15] Ibid 11.
[16] ‘Proposed Digital India Act, 2023’ Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Bengaluru, 9 March 2023) <https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/DIA_Presentation%2009.03.2023%20Final.pdf> accessed 4 March 2024
[17] Siddharth Jindal ‘Why Ola’s Krutrim is Showing OpenAI as its Creator’ Analytics India Magazine (28 February 2024) <https://analyticsindiamag.com/why-olas-krutrim-is-showing-openai-as-its-creator/#:~:text=Ola’s%20Krutrim%2C%20which%20recently%20entered,as%20its%20creator%20during%20interactions.> accessed on 7 March 2024
[18]Soumyarendra Barik ‘After criticism, govt clarifies: AI startups don’t need IT Ministry approval’ The Indian Express (11 March 2024) <https://indianexpress.com/article/business/genai-startups-dont-need-to-seek-govt-nod-before-launch-rajeev-chandrasekhar-9194613/> accessed on 11 March 11, 2024
[19] Ibid 1.
[20] Surendra Singh ‘India set to take giant leap in AI to empower citizens: PM Modi; invites all to global AI summit’ Times of India (New Delhi, 9 December 2023) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-set-to-take-giant-leap-in-ai-to-empower-citizens-modi-invites-all-to-global-ai-summit/articleshow/105859774.cms?from=mdr> accessed on 7 March 2024
[21] Nicholas Letarte ‘The EU AI Act and the Emergence of New Global Standards’ Eckerson (14 February 2024) <https://www.eckerson.com/articles/the-eu-ai-act-and-the-emergence-of-new-global-standards> accessed on 7 March 2024
[22] ‘Artificial Intelligence in India’ India Science and Technology (2020)
<https://www.indiascienceandtechnology.gov.in/sites/default/files/AI%20Trend%20story.pdf> accessed on 11 March 2024
[23] ‘AI Act’ European Commission<https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai#:~:text=The%20AI%20Act%20is%20the,play%20a%20leading%20role%20globally.&text=The%20AI%20Act%20aims%20to,regarding%20specific%20uses%20of%20AI.> accessed on 7 March 2024
