Govt Backtracks on Controversial AI Advisory
In a significant move, before elections, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) revised its previous guidelines governing using artificial intelligence technologies by platforms like Meta, Google, etc.
The original advisory issued last month ran into trouble by stipulating that companies need explicit approval from authorities before deploying “untested AI” in India. This provision was widely criticized for its pragmatic implementation and impact on innovation.
Due to pressure from industry and experts, MeitY has now returned from this contentious condition. According to sources from The Indian Express, the reworked advisory no longer mandates a prior government nod.
However, the revised guidelines do focus on enhanced transparency from platforms regarding the limitations of experimental AI tools. Sources indicate companies will now be expected to clearly label outputs from newer technologies that may not have achieved full reliability just yet.
This includes flagging potential issues with results from advanced machine translation and image generation models. The move addresses the risks of deploying these technologies without properly scrutinising trustworthiness.
With the backtracking, the government appears to have addressed concerns that the previous directive could discourage companies from testing cutting-edge solutions in India. The leniency on approvals may also boost the ease of doing advanced research.
