Parliamentary panel discusses impact of Artificial Intelligence, to submit report in Budget Session
New Delhi, January 5
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology on Monday held a meeting to deliberate on issues related to Artificial Intelligence and is slated to present its report during the forthcoming Budget Session of Parliament.
India will host this year's AI Impact Summit in February in the national capital, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi had co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, told ANI that they will present suggestions to the government and the report will be presented in the budget session of Parliament.
"Several countries have made regulations regarding Artificial Intelligence. Our committee is also concerned about AI. PM has taken up a major initiative. He co-chaired the World AI Summit. A meeting will be held here. So, we called a meeting ahead of that. We will present suggestions to the Government. They will then make a decision. We will present the report in the Budget Session," Dubey told ANI.
Asked about the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's (MeitY) letter to social media platform X over the misuse of "Grok AI" for obscene content, he said the members lauded the government's move.
"All members across the party line thanked MeitY and the Government of India. We were the first to raise the issue of the safety of children and women. The world then followed suit. So, we thanked the Government of India," he said.
Officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and the Sports Ministry presented their views to the panel.
On Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi expressed gratitude to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after MeitY issued a notice to the social media platform X following her letter raising serious concerns about the alleged misuse of artificial intelligence tools on the platform.
MeitY had written to X over "failure to observe statutory due diligence obligations" under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and other relevant laws and sought an Action Taken Report towards immediate compliance for prevention of hosting, generation and uploading of obscene, nude, indecent and sexually explicit content "through the misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and xAI's other services".
In a letter to the Chief Compliance Officer, X Corp, India Operations, MeitY advised the social media platform to strictly desist from the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law for the time being in force in any manner whatsoever.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Finally! The misuse of AI for generating obscene content is a serious issue. Kudos to MeitY for taking swift action against X. Our laws need to be strong enough to handle these new-age challenges. Hope the panel's report includes concrete measures for enforcement.
While regulation is necessary, I hope the committee's suggestions don't stifle innovation. India has a huge talent pool in tech. The policy should encourage Indian startups to build world-class AI, not just be about restrictions. The budget session report will be key.
It's good that ministries like Agriculture and Tourism are involved. AI isn't just for IT companies. Imagine AI helping our farmers with weather predictions or boosting tourism with personalized guides! The focus should be on practical, ground-level benefits for common people.
I appreciate the bipartisan support mentioned in the article. Tech policy should be above politics. However, I hope the report is made public and there's a consultation period. Citizens and experts should have a say in something as impactful as AI regulation.
The action on Grok AI is necessary, but let's not forget the bigger picture. What about job losses due to automation? What about AI bias? The committee must think about skilling programs and ethical frameworks, not just content moderation. A comprehensive approach is needed.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.