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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a strong case for collective efforts to establish a global framework for artificial intelligence (AI) based on open source which enhances trust, transparency and is free from biases.
Co-chairing the AI Action Summit along with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Modi said that AI is changing the polity, economy, security and society, and is writing the code for humanity in this century.
Modi also offered to host the next AI Action Summit in India, supporting the decision taken at the first summit hosted by France to set up the 'AI Foundation' and the 'Council for Sustainable AI'.
"There is a need for collective global efforts to establish governance and standards that uphold our shared values, address risks and build trust," Modi said, adding that governance is not just about managing risks and rivalries but is also about promoting innovations and deploying them for global good.
"We must democratise technology and create people-centric applications. We must address concerns related to cyber security, disinformation and deep fakes," the Prime Minister said.
Stressing on the need to develop quality data sets free from biases, the prime minister said there is a need to develop open-source AI ecosystems that enhance trust and transparency.
He said the technology should be rooted in the local ecosystem for it to be effective and useful.
Modi started his address with an observation on the potential of AI by stating that AI can cut through jargon and summarise medical prescriptions in a language that can be understood easily.
"If you upload your medical report to an AI app, it can explain in simple language, free of any jargon, what it means for your health. But, if you ask the same app to draw an image of someone writing with their Left hand, the app will most likely draw someone writing with their Right hand. Because that is what the training data is dominated by.
"It shows that while the positive potential of AI is absolutely amazing, there are many biases that we need to think carefully about," he said, Modi pitched for inclusive development of AI especially for the Global South.
"We must think deeply and discuss openly about innovations and governance. Governance is also about ensuring access to all, especially in the global south. It is where the capabilities are more lacking, be it compute, power, talent, data or the financial resources," Modi said.
The Prime Minister further said that AI can help transform millions of lives by improving health, education, agriculture and so much more.
It can help create a world in which the journey to sustainable development goals become easier and faster. To do this, we must pool together resources and talent.
Referring to apprehensions about job losses on account of AI, Modi said history has shown that work does not disappear due to technology but its nature changes and new types of jobs are created.
"AI is developing at an unprecedented scale and speed and being adopted and deployed even faster. There is also a deep inter-dependence across borders. We need to invest in skilling and re-skilling our people for an AI-driven future," Modi said.
India, he said, leads in AI adoption and techno-legal solutions on data privacy
"We are developing AI applications for public good. India is ready to share its experience and expertise to ensure that the AI future is for good, and for all," Modi said.
In his concluding remarks at the summit, Modi said that the discussions have clearly brought out that there is 'unity in vision and unity in purpose across stakeholders'.
Observing that the partnership for AI is truly global in nature, Modi said, "To build on the momentum of this Action Summit, India would be happy to host the next Summit."
"We must also make the 'Global Partnership for AI' truly global in nature. It should be more inclusive of the Global South and its priorities, concerns and needs," Modi said.