India to use AI for good governance – Suresh Prabhu

Suresh Prabhu speaking at the first open meet on AI in New Delhi

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhusaid that Government will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for good governance and proper regulations and corrective action will be taken to protect citizen’s privacy and ownership of data. India is transporting more data than US and China put together and the top six companies in the world are using this data with value addition and monetization. Suresh Prabhu added that India is strengthening its legal system and regulatory framework to deal with this world of digital data.

The Minister said that AIis the technology of today and one who masters this will rule the world. Every country is developing an AI strategy and India too is working on developing a strategy for the use of AI for the common good.

Commerce Minister was speaking at the International Colloquium on Ethics and Governance of Autonomous AI System for a Better World held in New Delhi today. The two-day Colloquium has been organized by Department of Science and Technology, CMS, ITUAPT and InfocomThink Tank.

The opening session was addressed by Prof. K Vijay Raghvan, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India and Dr. R. S. Sharma, Chairman, TRAI. Prof. Vijay Raghvan in his remarks said that Government of India has taken the initiative to formulate a national strategy for use of AI and make the process transparent and participative in order to create awareness in civil society about AI.

This is the first time in human history that machines are taking decisions based on data and experience and we have to learn to deal with this kind of decision making. Government will have to put in place mechanisms on how data is used and algorithms are written. As all the data being generated in world today is being controlled by few companies, it is creating asymmetries as very few create, understand and use this data.This has given rise to a very powerful elite who are controlling millions of lives. Government will have to take massive efforts in the fundamental education of every Indian from school level so that access to mathematics and technology is available to each and every student. In the present world those who can’t access technology will be on the other side as AI is creating an ethical divide. Therefore, education at the foundation level has to be upgraded urgently.

Dr. R. S. Sharma, Chairman TRAI, in his address said that a data rich country like India must develop a national policy spelling out ownership of data, privacy of data generated by citizens and issues of data portability so that the sovereignty of country is not compromised.

The two-day event, being held on February 18 – 19, 2019, will see many international experts brainstorm about ethics of AI and machine learning, legalities, application of AI, relevance of block chain technology and effect of automation on the labour force. Professors from five IITs, CDAC and other renowned institutions are participating in this two-day Colloquium.