Opinion Express View on India and AI regulation: The cutting edge
India should play a role in shaping global AI regulatory order, while nurturing domestic ecosystem to build AI expertise
his framework also calls for the establishment of a European Artificial Intelligence Board to oversee the implementation of regulation. 
-
Share -
-
-
With the explosion of artificial intelligence systems, policy makers the world over confront the complex challenge of regulating AI. Acknowledging the far-reaching ramifications of AI systems, tech leaders such as Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, have called for the creation of an international regulatory body, while others like Elon Musk had earlier called for a pause on AI development until independent experts developed and implemented a set of shared safety protocols. Seen against this backdrop, the Indian government’s decision to move in the direction of actively formulating regulations is welcome.
Even as policy makers across jurisdictions have begun to take steps towards regulating AI, their approaches vary. Under the European model, for instance, the regulatory framework has sought to classify artificial intelligence systems according to the risk they pose. These risks are classified into four categories — minimal, limited, high and unacceptable. This framework also calls for the establishment of a European Artificial Intelligence Board to oversee the implementation of regulation.
In India, a paper released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in July had outlined the form a regulatory framework could take. It recommended setting up of an independent statutory authority and a multi-stakeholder body which draws its members from the government, academia and industry to advise it. It proposed a matrix to classify AI use cases based on their risk — high or low risk — and regulate them according to principles of responsible AI, which it enumerated as inclusive growth and sustainable development, fairness, transparency and explainability, robustness, security and safety, and accountability.
The impact of AI will not only be felt in the information technology sector, but potentially across a range of areas like education, healthcare and finance. The wide-ranging concerns such AI systems raise, therefore, from issues of privacy to bias and discrimination, security risks and intellectual property rights, and given the fact that technology is constantly evolving, call for a forward-looking approach. Moreover, regulatory frameworks cannot work in isolation. As AI will not be constrained by geographical boundaries, global collaboration will be required.
The TRAI paper also talks about the creation of an international body for the “development, standardisation and use of AI technology”. Considering the strong technology ecosystem that exists in India, the country is well placed to play a crucial role in shaping the global AI regulatory framework. However, while policymakers must clearly draw up the regulatory guardrails, they must be careful — they must seek to facilitate innovation, not stifle it.
-
Share
-
-
-
Share
