NEW DELHI: India has chosen a different path on artificial intelligence (AI) safety compared to many other countries in the world, said Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday. The minister, while speaking at the launch of the AI Viksit Bharat Roadmap, also explained that while several nations see AI safety mainly as a legal challenge, India is following a techno-legal approach.
"On AI safety, we have taken a very different approach. Many parts of the world treat AI safety as a legal challenge—they want to pass a law and believe that safety will follow. We have taken a techno-legal approach. Our AI Safety Institute is a virtual network of institutions, each working on a specific challenge. For example, IIT Jodhpur is working on detecting deepfakes, and its algorithms today can detect them with very high accuracy," said the minister.
He further added that India’s approach prioritizes innovation over strict regulation. This is in contrast to Europe and many other parts of the world, where the focus is on laws and regulatory bodies.
"This is very different from Europe and many other parts of the world, where the tilt is towards regulation—passing laws, creating regulatory bodies. We believe technology should be allowed to innovate and evolve, and then we can build the right regulatory structures, instead of prescribing them upfront," said the minister.
He also mentioned that no country can think of becoming developed unless it has good mastery, good control, and strong confidence in a few critical technologies. According to the minister, these include telecom, semiconductors, electric vehicles, biotech, advanced engines, quantum, rare earths, and more.
"We will have to master these technologies, adopt them, develop a strong talent pipeline, and ensure that India remains at the frontier," suggested the minister.
Vaishnaw further said that over the past few decades, the most important new factor added to this constellation of technologies is AI. He explained that just like the internet transformed everything, AI is now fundamentally changing the way we work, live, consume, teach our children, and deliver healthcare. Practically everything will be impacted by AI.