New AI rules: What kind of digital society do we want?

Starting Monday, India will host the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi with heads of state, global tech leaders and policymakers in attendance.

- VIVAN SHARAN

Just days earlier, the ministry of electronics and information technology had notified a legal framework to govern synthetically generated or AI-driven content. The timing seems deliberate.Announcing new AI rules on the eve of a high-profile global gathering allows India to signal that it takes AI harms seriously. But beyond the optics, the substance of these rules deserves attention.

At their core, the amendments focus on “synthetically generated information,” which is content created or materially altered using AI and made available online via digital services like social media. Over the past few years, the world has witnessed an explosion of AI-generated political memes, deepfakes and morphed images, including sexually explicit fabrications involving real individuals. These have caused India's political and societal fabric significant harm.

The government's initial response was blunt, as most early drafts of technology rules tend to be. Previous proposals sought sweeping restrictions that evoked industry concern and even alarm. To the ministry's credit, much of this has been rationalized. The definition of ‘synthetic content,’ for instance, has been narrowed to exclude routine editing, such as quality enhancement or the use of assistive AI. This carve-out addresses a big industry fear: that everyday tools like photo filters could face a heavy compliance burden.