This formed the crux of the in-depth discussion, “Addressing the Ethical Imperative of AI through Indian AI Policy and Global Regulations” at the ET Soonicorns Summit 2024 in Bengaluru.
When asked if ethical AI was possible, panelist Siddharth Bhardwaj, executive director of music creation platform Beatoven.ai, joked that it was possible, but “its cost is higher than doing things unethically, which is why unethical AI is popular.”
AI Foundry President and ARTPARK Co-Founder Umakant Soni, Agami Co-Founder Sachin Malhan, and Netradyne SVP Engineering Vinay Rai were the other speakers in the 40-minute discussion.
While stressing the need to make training data transparent, Soni said that it is possible to know whether something is ‘ethical’ only when it is used in a specific environment or in a certain manner.
“As a society, we need to think about whether AI will bring about lasting change or whether it will be too disruptive to the way we operate,” he added. Soni also proposed the idea of AI cities, where emerging technology can be physically tested to see if an AI model is safe, sustainable and ethical before finding wider adoption.
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Vinay Rai stressed that while heavy-handed government regulation is not the way forward, it must also be acknowledged that AI companies are not doing enough to prioritize safeguards and data privacy when building AI models. “To enable the AI ecosystem, you need to make sure that everyone has access to it. And when everyone has access, bad actors are inevitable,” he said.
Sachin Malhan of Agami, who advocates open source AI as a digital public good in law and justice, said the AI infrastructure gap in India is so huge that it does not make sense to build physical facilities like legal aid clinics or AI-enabled courts.
“The good news is that India is now quite flexible in its regulatory approach because it recognises that things take time. You need to involve more people and learn more before deciding what the ethical framework should be,” he said.
ET Soonicorns Summit 2024 was organized by Phoenix Kessaku. Upskilling Partner: UpGrad Enterprise; Insurance Partner: PolicyBazaar for Business; Banking Partner: Bank of India. Gifting Partners: IGP.com; The Mind and Company, Plum, Clay Capital.
