‘We have to strike a good balance between innovation and regulation’: Union minister

“We have to have a very consultative process by which we can develop the final policy,” he said (document)

New Delhi:

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said generative artificial intelligence is a relatively new phenomenon and a good balance between innovation and regulation must be struck to preserve the social fabric and ensure progress.

Addressing a seminar at the Women Journalists Welfare Trust, the minister said that while technology and artificial intelligence have the transformative power to make life easier, without safeguards they can also have an impact on age-old established structures. poses downside risks and therefore requires the development of a new set of regulations and systems. Legislation is needed.

“There is a very dangerous side and it is affecting our society, our democracy and many of the social structures that have been carefully built over decades and centuries. Many of the institutions that are designed to protect society and ensure that we all live in a harmonious way are under attack,” he said.

The minister said that although AI has been around in industry for three decades, as a form of generative AI that can be used by ordinary users, it is new.

He said that AI creating things usually associated with human creativity is a completely new phenomenon, which brings new challenges.

“We have to reach some consensus on the way forward as a society. We in India believe that we have to strike a good balance between innovation and regulation.

“We have to have a very consultative process through which we develop the final policy. We have to make sure that every stakeholder’s voice is heard, understood and properly analysed,” he said.

With the advent of social media, “connectivity became ubiquitous, everyone had a mobile phone and everyone started to have a good data connection,” he said.

“A European minister responsible for this subject told me that institutions established over 400 years ago are being destroyed by social media,” Mr Vishno said.

The price of computing, connectivity and sensors has dropped significantly, the minister said. But he said it makes the internet easily accessible to everyone.

In a sense, the Internet exploded. Vishno said anyone could easily post anything and start creating social tension.

He said that the old structure was a safe harbor structure to promote Internet innovation, and that Internet service providers would never be held accountable.

Under the new structure, he said, there are millions of people posting millions of pieces of content on the internet. “The question is, whose responsibility is this? This is the fundamental question.” Vishno further said that societies around the world, including the most liberal, market-oriented socialist countries, as well as the most state-controlled countries, are Discuss this issue.

“The same questions are being asked everywhere: What should be the new regulatory regime for social media platforms? Who should be held accountable? Where should the responsibility lie? Who should be held responsible for content posted on social media platforms? Solutions must be found, we must Find a proper balance. We have to make sure that the fabric of our society and the way we want to move forward is properly protected,” he said.

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