MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar Advocates For Unified AI Guidelines Among Democratic Nations

In a meeting, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, and his Dutch counterpart Alexandra van Huffelen, State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation of the Netherlands, deliberated on approaches to stay ahead in a swiftly innovating global landscape.

In a statement, Chandrasekhar said, “We must come to a consensus on the do’s and don’ts of AI among democratic nations to ensure that we are not left playing catch-up in a rapidly evolving world of innovation. We need to establish an institutional framework between countries that will define the guardrails for platforms, further enhancing accountability.” 

Chandrasekhar, who is representing India at AI Safety Summit 2023 in the UK further emphasised the importance of guiding Artificial Intelligence (AI) with principles focusing on safety, user trust, and platform accountability in an official statement on November 2.

The minister has also extended invitations to all nations for the upcoming Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and India AI summits scheduled for December 2023.

Chandrasekhar highlighted India’s leadership role as the chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).

“We have maintained that AI should be guided by principles of safety & trust for users, and accountability for platforms,” Chandrasekhar said at the summit.

Chandrasekhar reiterated the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the imperative use of AI to positively transform people’s lives while ensuring safety, trust, and accountability to mitigate potential harm to users.

During the summit on November 1, all participating nations reached a consensus and endorsed The Bletchley Declaration. This document places a significant emphasis on the alignment of AI systems with human intentions and advocates for a comprehensive exploration of AI’s full potential.

The minister engaged in bilateral meetings with counterparts from the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, and Ireland.

During his discussions with Viscount Camrose, the UK’s Minister of State for AI and Intellectual Property, they extensively addressed potential risks associated with AI-related user harm and committed to ongoing collaborative efforts to make substantial advancements in this sector in the coming months, as outlined in the official statement.

This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for building a global framework on the ethical usage of AI while addressing the B20 Summit India 2023. 

The summit aims to bring together international governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups and experts in research to consider the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development.

Amid the global AI boom, India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing AI talent hubs worldwide. A recent report from LinkedIn confirms the country’s rise in AI expertise.

“Singapore, Finland, Ireland, India, and Canada are experiencing the fastest rate of AI skills diffusion,” said LinkedIn’s ‘Future of Work Report – AI at Work’, adding that the number of  AI-skilled members was 9X higher globally in June 2023 compared to January 2016.

Additionally, according to a recent study conducted by ServiceNow and Pearson, AI and automation will necessitate reskilling and upskilling 16.2 Mn workers in India by 2027, while creating 4.7 Mn new tech jobs in the same period.

As AI continues to thrive, startups are racing to keep pace. Infibeam Avenues, a fintech startup, has accelerated its plans to establish an in-house ecosystem to support its AI ambitions.

Joining this AI wave are prominent Indian organisations like Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Zomato, and Flipkart. According to Inc42, India is home to over 70 generative AI startups, which have collectively secured funding exceeding $440 Mn since 2019.