The Indian government recently issued an advisory for generative AI models and platforms, requiring them to seek permission before public release. This comes amidst global debates around the opportunities and ethical challenges posed by rapidly advancing generative AI technologies.
About Generative AI
- Uses machine learning to generate new content like text, images, audio/video
- Trained on large datasets of human-created content
- Can adapt quickly to new tasks with minimal data
- Also referred to as foundation models
Key Capabilities
- Natural language processing
- Conversation, summarization
- Translation between languages
- Image and multimedia generation
- Identifying and generating insights
- Personalization of content
Common Use Cases of Generative AI
| Area | Use Cases |
| Customer Service | Chatbots, improved search |
| Content Creation | Articles, social media posts |
| Business Operations | Analyze data, automate processes |
| Creative Arts | Generate music, artworks |
Emerging Applications and Future Possibilities
- Develop drugs, materials faster
- Democratize creativity
- Mitigate climate change
- Enable metaverse experiences
- Bioinformatics, precision medicine
Societal Impacts and Risks
Benefits
- Economic growth
- Solve complex problems
- Free human creativity
Risks
- Job losses
- Bias and fairness
- Misinformation
- Legal and ethical issues
Regulation of Generative AI
As generative AI advances:
- Clarity needed on accountability, transparency and control
- Policy frameworks for monitoring risks
- International coordination between governments required
- Investments in AI safety research and development
Limitations of current generative AI models
- Prone to bias, toxicity, inaccuracies
- Sometimes make logically inconsistent predictions
- Lack common sense that humans intrinsically have
- Not capable enough for mission critical applications yet
Geopolitical Implications
- Global race to advance capabilities for economic and military power
- Concerns around fake media and advanced cyber attacks
- Potential to influence public opinion and political elections
- Questions on managing transnational data flows
India’s Growth Trajectory
- Scalable policy framework being developed for regulating AI use
- Investments needed in high performance computing infrastructure
- Opportunity in SGDI Mission to build foundations for next-gen AI
- Must reskill workforce and expand talent pool for responsible AI
Responsible Development Approach
- Ensure fairness, safety, privacy, transparency in AI systems
- Develop technological solutions to improve model reliability
- Enable public oversight through audit mechanisms
- Create grievances redressal mechanisms against harms
Business Value and Economic Impact
- Generative AI can create business value through higher productivity, better customer engagement and new revenue opportunities
- It can dramatically reduce time taken for content writing, software coding etc. freeing up workforce for strategic roles
- As per a McKinsey study, AI techniques including generative AI can create economic value of over $13 trillion globally by 2030
- For India, even adopting AI partially has potential for $500 billion of incremental value addition by 2025
Developing Ethical Generative AI
- Core technical research must continue into making systems beneficial, harmless and honest
- Broader society must be included in developing standards for responsible and ethical AI systems
- Transparent reporting on documented harms ongoing during technology development is important
- Risk mitigation policy frameworks need development to address typical failures seen today
Emerging Startup Ecosystem
- Indian startups like ANTHROPIC, Vernacular.ai, Qure.ai using cutting edge tech in generative AI space
- They operate in domains like content generation, indic language translation, healthcare
- Several startups focus on enabling safe and ethical implementation of AI
- Nurturing this ecosystem vital to make India a global AI leader
Case Study – Anthropic’s Constitutional AI
Anthropic, a Silicon Valley AI safety startup believes “constitutionally constrained” systems like Claude can help ensure people’s preferences are respected fairly and equally.
With thoughtful regulation and continued progress in AI safety, generative models can usher an age of rapid innovation to benefit humanity.