By Ambrish Sinha
“With great power comes great responsibilities,” reads a quote from pop culture. However, the realization of great responsibilities comes with conversations, discussions, and first-hand experiences. If you pay attention to the key outcomes of the recent G20 Summit, it’s that we – as a civilization – are heading fast towards a new era of living. We are progressing further in the Information Age, where moderation, compliance, and mandates on AI-driven products and services are the needs of the hour.
In 2019, the G7 Summit proposed the idea on Principles of AI but in less than 5 years, we have evolved to discuss the implications and intricacies of the technology. Today, concerns are not in implementing advanced AI but in moderating their usage to tackle and mitigate misuse and consequences.
With the onset of generative AI in 2022, a lot of things have changed. Gen AI tools allow us to create material on any topic, create and refine code, generate original art, and many other type of content . Anybody can create anything today, thanks to AI. While this sounds all empowering, the pro is also the con here.
A paradox. A Catch 22 situation.
Prominent reports reveal that the rise of AI could replace over a billion jobs and make over 375 million jobs obsolete in the next 10 years. And over and above potential the job losses, there are a multitude of other critical concerns with AI such as:
- Bias in decision-making, resulting in one-sided or discriminatory outcomes stemming from bias in training data fed initially
- Privacy and data safety concerns as AI can collect, compile and process mass volumes of data, raising questions on unauthorized and brute-force access to sensitive data
- Sophistication of cyberattacks, where attackers are creatively using AI to appear more legitimate and exploit individual and technical vulnerabilities
- Deepfakes (alarming) of people through advanced morphing, facial de-aging, digital replacement and more
- Misinformation and fake news during national disasters and situations of sensitive natures
- Unequal power distribution, where major sources of data and information rest with select few companies
- Economic disparities resulting from unequal distribution of access to AI tools and platforms and more
Policies On AI Proposed By Countries
Discussions on global AI policy are not new. Several countries have been conducting internal surveys and forums to better accommodate and position the use of AI. For instance, the European Union introduced the Artificial Intelligence Act as early as 2021, proposing a risk-based approach to the deployment of AI in public and private sectors. This limits the use of AI in sectors that could threaten the livelihoods of people but encourages dynamic use of AI in streams like healthcare.
Canada, too, has the Artificial Intelligence & Data Act that mandates developers to strategize and submit mitigation plans for optimized transparency of AI models.
As India identifies the potential of AI in diverse fields and experiences both benefits and threats gradually, this is the right time to take the lead in proposing a well-defined and airtight AI policy. It’s reassuring that the G20 Summit weighed AI on an objective scale or in AI terms, bias-free and batted for Pro Innovation regulation of AI.
Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi also shared the idea of a framework for responsible human-centric AI governance. With the right moderation and regulations, the potential of AI can be leveraged to propel socio-economic development and pave the way for a new generation of workforce adept at emerging technologies.
With some of the key countries part of the G20 intergovernmental forum, consensus and the formulation of a confederation for ethical use of AI is the way forward to mitigate risks and increase avenues and opportunities for progress as humankind.
At the end of the day, sentient humans required divine intervention and intelligent devices need human intervention for balance, sustenance, and harmony.
Agree?
The author is CEO, UNext Learning
