UN’s AI Advisory Panel Ropes In The Brain Behind UPI, ONDC

Think tank iSPIRT Foundation’s cofounder Sharad Sharma has been chosen as a member of the newly launched United Nations’ high-level advisory body on Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Sharma is expected to be the voice of India on the 38-member panel, which also comprises senior Indian diplomat Amandeep Singh Gill, who serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology.

The iSPIRT cofounder will bring the Indian perspective to the table and suggest recommendations for the international governance of AI. At the outset, the panel will build a global scientific consensus on risks and challenges concerning AI and strengthen global cooperation on governance of the emerging technology.

Sharma leads the iSPIRT Foundation, which conceptualised state-backed digital public infrastructure projects such as the UPI and the ONDC. The non-profit organisation also played a key role in ideating the overall India Stack, the Health Stack, and other digital public goods.

Speaking with The Economic Times, Sharma said that the new advisory panel will debate whether AI is ‘good or bad’ for society. He added that the board will look into aspects such as regulation and study global best practices, including India’s approach. 

“If it (AI) is good and bad, how do we regulate (it)? India’s approach to data empowerment and protection architecture is distinctive. It is neither like the Chinese approach nor like the US approach. We have a different approach for personal data as well as aggregate data,” he said, as per the publication. 

He also said that three or four sub-groups will be formed within the panel, one of which will be chaired by India. 

“At a time when people used wallets, India decided to use Unified Payments Interface. Similarly, India is also introducing techno-legal regulation. So, India’s approach is distinctive. Three or four sub-groups will be formed, and India will chair one of the groups,” he said.

An alumnus of the erstwhile Delhi College of Engineering, now Delhi Technological University, Sharma cofounded wireless infrastructure startup Teltier Technologies, which was eventually acquired by CISCO. 

He also previously held senior positions at major companies such as Yahoo, VERITAS, Symantec, Lucent, and AT&T. 

The iSPIRT cofounder is also an active angel investor and has more than 24 investments, including proptech startup ADDA, and fintech startup EzeTap (later acquired by Razorpay), among others. 

Meanwhile, the AI advisory body will hold its first meeting on October 27 and will issue its preliminary recommendations by the end of the year. The panel will come up with final recommendations by 2024.

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