Advisory Group Constituted To Build AI Regulatory Framework: Govt

Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada has informed the Parliament that the Centre has constituted an advisory group to formulate a framework to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in the country.

Responding to a question from Telugu Desam Party members of Parliament (MPs) Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayulu and GM Harish Balayogi, the MoS said that the panel has been tasked with building a framework to promote innovation while curbing the misuse of AI technologies. 

He further added that the group comprises government officials, industry leaders, academicians and other stakeholders. 

“The government has constituted an advisory group for India-specific regulatory AI framework… Its  mandate  is  to  promote  innovation  and  ensure  adequate  guardrails  to  protect  common  citizens against the possible misuse and user harms. Specifically, the terms of reference of the advisory group includes creating contextualised ethical guidelines which are adaptable in India and promote development of trustworthy, fair, and inclusive AI,” added Prasada.

In response to a separate question, MoS (independent charge) in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary said that 2,914 individuals have so far been trained in AI-related courses under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0 till June 30.

MoS Chaudhary also said that an additional 8,909 applicants are undergoing training in various AI courses under the scheme as of June 30. He added that over 1.27 Lakh individuals have been trained in various AI-related courses on the FutureSkills Prime platform, which aims to reskill and upskill IT professionals in 10 emerging areas of technologies.

The comments come at a time when AI mania has gripped the world, which has spawned the rise of multiple startups in the space. This has led to a sharp rise in demand for talent pool catering to the domain and the upskilling programme aims to address that. 

Cognisant of this, tech giant Google announced a partnership with MeitY Startup Hub last month to upskill 10,000 homegrown startups in artificial intelligence. Infosys cofounder and chairman Nandan Nilekani last month also said that the IT major has trained more than 2.5 Lakh employees in GenAI technologies. 

Meanwhile, the growing penetration of generative AI (GenAI) has raised questions about issues related with the technology such as misuse, deepfakes and misinformation. In a bid to crack the whip on this, the Centre, earlier this year, issued an advisory that directed platforms to label undertrial AI models and ensure that no unlawful content is hosted on their sites. 

Notably, industry veterans including SaaS unicorn Zoho’s cofounder Sridhar Vembu have in the past also called for building appropriate safeguards before adopting new technologies.