NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged world leaders at the G20 summit in Johannesburg to support the creation of a global AI compact, stressing the need to prevent misuse while harnessing Artificial Intelligence for inclusive and responsible global development.
“...But at the same time, we all have to ensure that AI is used for the global good and its misuse is avoided. For this, we need to create a global compact on AI that is based on some core principles,” PM Modi said, emphasising oversight, safety-by-design, transparency, and strict restrictions on the use of AI in deepfakes, crime, and terrorism.
The Prime Minister added, “AI systems that affect human life, security, or public trust must be responsible and accountable. Most importantly, AI should enhance human capabilities, but the ultimate responsibility for decision-making will always remain with humans.”
PM Modi also announced that the AI Impact Summit India is hosting in February next year will be themed Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay (Welfare for all, Happiness for all), and invited all G20 countries to take part in the mission. He stressed the need to shift from “jobs of today” to “capabilities of tomorrow,” underlining the importance of constant innovation.
Outlining India’s approach to AI, PM Modi said it rests on three pillars: equitable access, population-scale skilling, and responsible deployment.
“Under the India-AI Mission, we are creating accessible high-performance computing so that the benefits of AI reach every district and every language,” he told the G20 leaders. The Prime Minister emphasised that technology must be human-centric, global, and open-source rather than finance-centric, national, or exclusive.
“We have to promote technology applications that are ‘human centric’ instead of ‘finance centric’, which are ‘global’ instead of ‘national’ and ‘open source’ instead of ‘exclusive models’. We have tried to integrate this vision in all technology projects of India.”
He cited India’s leadership in digital payments and its response during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering vaccines and medicines to more than 150 countries, to underline the potential of inclusive technological and economic growth.
“Development should be sustainable, business should be trusted, finance should be fair, and progress should bring all-inclusive prosperity,” PM Modi said.
This is the first G20 summit to be held in Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of the summit, described the Leaders’ Declaration as reflecting a “renewed commitment to multilateral cooperation,” despite the United States’ boycott.
The declaration addressed global challenges including the climate crisis, underscoring the summit’s focus on collaboration amid geopolitical complexities.
