IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said there is a need for the world to collectively figure out the ways to tackle risks arising out of artificial intelligence (AI) and the limits that should be imposed on the new-age technology to prevent user harm.
“We have seen how big a threat disinformation, misinformation and fake news can be. The threat gets multiplied manifold by the power of AI,” Vaishnaw said.
“This is not something which only we are experiencing. The entire world is experiencing the same,” Vaishnaw said, adding that the solution to contain risks has to come through a global thought process.
Vaishnaw’s comments assume significance as India is looking at ways to regulate AI, which should not hamper innovation. The government is on a wait-and-watch mode at the moment. To get started, it may amend the IT rules for responsible use of AI. “AI can be a very big tool to solve problems. Simultaneously, we need to contain the risks,” Vaishnaw added.
Globally, the EU and the US have passed the AI Act and executive order, respectively, to limit the risks posed by AI systems.
Besides the regulations, in a bid to harness the potential of AI, the government has also launched the `10,000-crore IndiaAI mission to help startups and researchers with the compute infrastructure.
Vaishnaw said the foundational work on the IndiaAI mission has started and the government will take 2-3 months to launch the programme. The mission contains seven pillars, including AI compute foundation models, data sets, platforms, AI applications, scaling startups and frameworks for safe and trusted AI.
“We will procure 10,000 or more graphics processing units (GPUs) under a public-private partnership so that the efficiencies of the industry can be harnessed for a bigger cause,” Vaishnaw said.
“We will also have an AI innovation centre and high quality data sets to add more value to the efforts of startups, and an application development initiative where apps relevant to our socio-economic problems can be developed,” he added.
The government will soon invite expressions of interest from the companies who are providers of compute infrastructure to procure GPUs. The government will follow a 50% viability gap funding model to support the startups looking to utilise GPUs from these companies.
“In our approach, towards utilising the potential of AI. The thought process has been to democratise technology,” Vaishnaw said.
“Technology should be accessible to everybody. We all know that technology is becoming very expensive. In many geographies, the tendency is that it gets limited in the hands of a few — whether it is called Big Tech or the government,” Vaishnaw said.
The IndiaAI Mission was approved by the previous Union Cabinet earlier this year, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
