MeitY Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development
In late 2023, the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (“PSA”) to the Government of India took steps toward addressing the complex regulatory landscape of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in India. Recognizing AI’s transformative potential across various sectors, the PSA formed an Advisory Group tasked with providing guidance on AI governance. Under the guidance of this Advisory Group, a sub-committee on ‘AI Governance and Guidelines Development’ (“Sub-Committee”) was set up on November 9, 2023, to provide workable recommendations for AI governance in India.
Recently the Sub-Committee released its recommendations in the form of the AI Governance Guidelines Report (“Report”). The Subcommittee’s report emphasizes the need for a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to ensure effective compliance and enforcement as India’s AI landscape continues to evolve. Based on its extensive deliberations, the report outlines a series of recommendations that aim to shape the future of AI governance in India.
A proposed list of AI Governance principles includes Transparency, Accountability, Safety, reliability & robustness, Privacy & security, Fairness & non-discrimination, Human-centred values & ‘do no harm’, Inclusive & sustainable innovation and Digital by design governance.
It fails to define AI – and states that existing definitions are either ill-equipped to regulate the rapidly evolving technology or are overbroad. The Sub-Committee argues that instead of a catch-all definition, specific technologies may be defined, when necessary, to regulate their possible harm. It argues for harm mitigation to be a core regulatory principle for prospective laws but also clarifies that the risk of harm should be real and specific for any prospective regulation of AI. It suggests that India should regulate AI through a combination of voluntary commitments / standards from AI developers / deployers / other relevant entities in the lifecycle of an AI system, and sectoral and/or risk-based regulations applicable for use of AI.
The report is open for public consultation / feedback by February 27, 2025.
