India looks at AI with prism of openness, safety, and accountability: Rajeev Chandrasekhar at AI summit

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar spoke at the first global summit on Artificial Intelligence in the UK.

Britain's Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, right, greets India's Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology as he arrives at the AI Safety Summit. (AP)

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in his address to the world's first global summit on Artificial Intelligence in the UK on Wednesday, said India looks at AI with a prism of openness, safety, trust and accountability. Addressing the 'AI Safety Summit 2023', Chandrasekhar said India has maintained that international collaborations and international conversations was extremely important at a time and a year when "technology is throwing up most exiting opportunities ever in the history of mankind."

The minister emphasised that India sees AI as "the next big opportunity."

"We are extremely clear in our minds on mitigation on what AI and indeed any emerging technology can and will represent, a prism of openness, safety, trust and accountability," he said

"Words like AI for good are something I don't understand. Is there an AI for bad? We certainly don't think there should be any doubt in anybody's minds that the future of technology must always be for the good," the Union Minister said at the plenary session of the summit.

Chandrasekhar added that "technooptimism notwithstanding a new regime needs to be built on the greater accountability of user harm, a greater accountability of those who use the platform whether it is caused by AI or the broader larger internet".

"We have learnt in the last 10-15 years as governments that by allowing innovation to get ahead of regulation, we open ourselves to the toxicity, misinformation and the weaponisation that we see on the internet today represented by social media and that is not what we want to chart for the AI," he said.

"We can certainly agree that this is not the vision we should have for AI in the coming years. We want AI and the broader internet context to represent goodness, safety, and trust and underpining this platforms, innovators must demonstrate accountability and uphold the law," he added.

The Union Minister noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had for years argued that the future of tech be it innovations or partnerships or the institutional framework for regulating the tech and innovations for the common good for all mankind should be driven by a coalition of nations rather than one country or two countries an institutional framework is a lot more sustainable.

"The Indian digital economy and the innovation economy and ecosystem today is growing by two and a half to three times faster than the non-digital part of the GDP. AI is a kinetic enabler of the already accelerating digital economy, innovation, growth, and governments," the minister said.

Chandrasekhar will also participate in discussions related to "Frontier AI risks," with a specific focus on "Risks to Global Safety from Frontier AI Misuse."

These discussions will delve into safety risks associated with recent and next-generation frontier AI models, including their implications for biosecurity and cybersecurity.

On the second day of the summit, the Union Minister will contribute to discussions regarding the establishment of a collaborative framework for AI among like-minded nations. He will shed light on India's perspective concerning AI risks in areas such as disinformation and electoral security.

Meanwhile, tech billionaire and CEO of X Elon Musk was among those who were seen at the two-day summit led by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that began today at the historic Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.

The summit aims for attendees to "work towards a shared understanding of risks" and coordinate a global effort to minimise them, according to the UK government.