MeitY Secretary Says Multi-Stakeholder Approach Necessary to Address Risks of AI

It is crucial to adopt a democratised, multi-stakeholder approach to address the downsides of artificial intelligence and ensure responsible and ethical AI use, a senior government official said on Monday.

S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), said the AI space is extremely important and vital for the country, and has tremendous scope and opportunity to assist in the economic development and transformation of India.

But at the same time, it holds a number of ethical and other risks, which are required to be addressed in a very holistic manner, he said.

"Addressing the risks which arise from the use of artificial intelligence has to be necessarily a multi stakeholder approach, where all the stakeholders come together on a platform of equality, come together on an open democratic platform to discuss the various issues that will possibly arise, the way they can be mitigated or addressed, and the way that the true potential of AI can be used in a way that is good for everybody," Krishnan said in a virtual keynote address.

He was speaking at the launch of CoRE-AI (Coalition for the Responsible Evolution of AI), an initiative by research and tech policy think tank The Dialogue.

He further said that ethical, responsible use of AI, and promoting safe and trusted artificial intelligence in the country is an important aspect of the IndiaAI mission -- a government initiative introduced earlier this year.

With a vision of making AI in India and making AI work for India, the Cabinet approved the IndiaAI mission in March with a budget outlay of Rs 10,372 crore.

"This is a critical aspect to ensure that AI really works for the people of this nation, and everybody who is able to derive the kind of benefit that AI promises to deliver for all of us," he said.

He said that the world expects India to take leadership, especially on behalf of the Global South, in the critical area of application of AI.

"The kind of voice that India will have in this space, the kind of leadership role that it will have in this space will greatly influence the way that the ethical stance on AI will also evolve, and the way that we will be able to apply AI in a manner that works for everybody," Krishnan noted.

The responsibility, safety, and trust that needs to be built in AI is an obligation and responsibility of three sets of players -- developers, deployers, and users.

"All of them have their own shares of responsibility, of what they need to do to ensure that AI works for everybody. None of them should use it in a way that is problematic or causes issues. Bringing all the stakeholders and people who are concerned with this exercise, and putting together a framework that will really work is a key task and the government welcomes support and interventions from a wide range of players who can bring the relevant information to the table on this aspect," the MeitY secretary said.

After taking in all of these inputs, undoubtedly a robust framework will emerge, Krishnan said, where India will be able to not just use AI for the benefit of its people, but play a leadership role globally.