Advisory on AI models sent after inconsistent outputs: IT secretary | Latest News India

The information technology secretary S Krishnan on Thursday said that the IT ministry sent an advisory on artificial intelligence to tech companies because the government noticed some generative AI tools changed their answers according to the jurisdiction in which questions were asked, indicating an inconsistency that needed to be addressed.

The official was referring to the March 1 advisory which he reiterated was meant only for significant social media intermediaries, that is, social media companies with more than 5 million users in India.

“There has been a requirement requesting certain specific significant social media intermediaries, and they are only eight in number, requesting them to indicate to us which are the new generative AI tools that they are putting out in the market because what has come to notice of the government is that in the way that some of these generative AI tools are operating, they are not operating in the same way across different jurisdictions as similar sensitive socio-political questions are answered very differently, depending on which jurisdiction they are asked in,” said Krishnan while delivering a keynote address at the ITech Law conference in Bangalore over a video link.

In the advisory, the ministry said companies must get explicit permission from the government for all their “under-testing” or “unreliable” artificial intelligence (AI) models before releasing them to users in India.

Krishnan added it was particularly crucial ahead of elections. “And clearly in a year, in a politically sensitive year, in a relatively surcharged environment, this can really cause issues,” the official added.

“Currently, we do not have a clear regulatory sandbox established where we can experiment with this. We clearly need that and that is something which will be done in the new in the new law that comes out. A regulatory sandbox mechanism will have to be provided, when we clearly understand that this is something which is in development, and therefore, they should not be an issue. But until such time that happens this is a space where we need to sort of exercise some restraint and some control,” he said.

The official added the advisory will not have an impact on innovation by other companies. “[T]his particular, recent advisory… is directed only at certain specified significant social media intermediaries who are classified under the IT rules and I think they also understand it clearly,” he said.

Krishnan also addressed the recent showdown between Google and a clutch of Indian app developers over the former’s payments policy for its Play Store. He said that while competition law — digital or otherwise — falls within the purview of the ministry of corporate affairs and Competition Commission of India, the IT Ministry, “as the ministry that stands up for innovation, for startups in the tech space”, too wants “to make sure that there is a level playing field” for startups and app developers so that they “are treated fairly and are in a position to innovate and are not subject to monopolistic pressures”.

“The government itself forgoes a lot of tax as a part of social policy, to ensure that the sector grows. And therefore, we cannot countenance a situation where other players get into taxing this particular sector through monopoly power, and therefore, this is an area which our ministers have spoken up on. And this is an area which needs to be worked on to make sure that a quick resolution is found within the overall framework of Indian law, particularly the competition law,” Krishnan said.