IT Minister calls for global collective efforts to deal with risks, dangers posed by AI

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said nations and societies across the world are becoming increasingly aware of new threats and risks emerging from AI and asserted that an effective solution to such challenges can come only from collective global efforts.

The Minister for Electronics and IT further said a comprehensive India AI Mission—which was cleared by Cabinet earlier this year—will be launched in the next two to three months.

"The whole package... the whole AI Mission which was approved by the Cabinet a couple of months back... the team is working on setting the foundation and all seven pillars... and maybe in 2-3 months we will be launching this mission," Vaishnaw said while speaking at the Global India AI Summit.

It may be recalled that the Cabinet in March this year approved an allocation of over Rs 10,300 crore for the India AI Mission, marking a significant step towards bolstering India's AI ecosystem.

This financial infusion, slated over the next five years, aims to catalyse various components of the India AI Mission, including areas like the India AI Compute Capacity, India AI Innovation Centre (IAIC), India AI Datasets Platform, India AI Application Development Initiative, India AI FutureSkills, India AI Startup Financing, and safe and trusted AI.

Vaishnaw on Wednesday said India's approach to the AI Mission will be all about democratising technology.

The Minister, during his inaugural address at the summit, said while the potential of AI for transformation and social good is evident, countries across the world also recognise the threats and risks of this new technology. He said that AI can be a very big tool for economic and social challenges.

"Simultaneously, over the last year, there is a huge realisation too about dangers, risks, and threats to our social institutions," he added.

Referring to Minister of State for IT Jitin Prasada's observations, Vaishnaw said "In recent general elections, we have seen how big a threat, disinformation, misinformation, and fake news can be and that threat gets multiplied manifold by the power of AI."

Not just India, but the world is waking up to emerging dangers and risks from AI.

Societies, he said, are responding in methodical and well-thought-through ways to these challenges, and cited ongoing efforts across Europe, the US, the UK, as well as forums like General Partnership on AI (of which India is the lead chair).

"We also believe that a solution has to come through a global thought process, it cannot be done in isolation by any country," Vaishnaw said.

On how soon would India carve out a regulation and guardrails on AI, the Minister said while discussions are on, political consensus would be needed.

"Discussions are on... it requires political consensus. All sections of society should understand the threats and potential... only then we should approach legal action," he said.