Mint Quick Edit | India’s AI framework: Can we turn what’s on paper into reality?

2 months ago 5

ARTICLE AD BOX

The ministry highlighted its effort to balance safety norms with space for AI innovation. (REUTERS)

Summary

India’s new AI framework borrows the moral code of medicine: Do no harm. It lays out a welcome set of principles and guidelines, designed for safety without stifling innovation. But can we get the world’s big AI businesses to comply?

India’s government has put together governance guidelines for artificial intelligence (AI), a “framework to ensure safe, inclusive and responsible AI adoption across sectors." Its guiding principle, as stated at the unveiling event, echoes the Hippocratic oath of medicine: Do no harm.

While its details will need to be pored over, its outline is reassuring. It lays out a set of ethical principles, while offering cues for AI governance, an action plan, and some notes for industry, developers and regulators aimed at transparency and accountability in the use of AI.

Notably, the ministry highlighted its effort to balance safety norms with space for AI innovation. Among other things, the framework calls for AI to empower people, reflect their values and stay human-centric; humans should, “as far as possible, have final control over AI systems."

Such systems should not just be “understandable" enough for regulators to grasp, they must always be fair and unbiased, with their makers ready to redress grievances.

Welcome as all this is, our big challenge would be to use our leverage as a user base to get the global movers and shakers of AI to comply. For this, diplomacy will need to chip in.

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.