Key Points

Addressing the launch of "AI for Viksit Bharat: The Opportunity for Accelerated Economic Growth" and the Frontier Tech Repository organised by NITI Aayog in New Delhi, Sitharaman said AI has emerged as a "rapidly progressing, real-time and dynamic" technology.

"Artificial Intelligence is not static. It is a rapidly progressing, real-time and dynamic. Therefore, all of us will have to be conscious that we don't sit back on the ethics. We need to be clear that regulation has to run the race equally as much as the technology is running it," Sitharaman said.

The minister emphasised that India has the capacity to absorb and apply AI-driven solutions for the common good.

"India is a country which can understand the implication of a good which comes in our way, although a good is never unmitigated, a good is never without riders, a good is never - on its own - good, it is for us all to use in such a way that it is for the common good. I think the AI is something which we should know how to keep well under our reins and serve for the common good," she said.

Highlighting the potential of AI in addressing real-world challenges, Sitharaman said the technology could play a vital role in improving existing urban areas and in planning new urban centres.

"Artificial Intelligence can play a vital role in finding solutions to improve our existing urban areas and to plan new urban centres. We need to understand that AI is capable of providing in-situ solutions, allowing people to remain where they are, while delivering the solutions they have been waiting for decades," she said.

The Finance Minister also called for AI-assisted technologies to be implemented across all districts of India.

"We need to understand that AI is capable of providing in-situ solutions, allowing people to remain where they are, while delivering the solutions they have been waiting for decades," she added.

NITI Aayog on the occasion launched two flagship initiatives under the Frontier Tech Hub to accelerate India's journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.

These include the AI for Viksit Bharat Roadmap and the Frontier Tech Repository, aimed at driving innovation, economic growth, and sustainable development across the country.

- ANI