In AI world, regulation must keep pace with tech: FM

Regulation has to keep pace with technology in a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing and where it needs to be kept in check to serve the common good, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said.

- RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI & DHRUVAKSH SAHA

Calling for a soft-touch approach in regulatory mechanisms so as not to kill technology, she said AI should help us give solutions for creating better cities and urban areas.

"If the technology is on a sprint, regulation should also be on a sprint. We do not want regulation that literally wipes off the technology itself. We want regulation because we want responsible application," Sitharaman said while addressing a NITI Aayog event.

Comparing the power of AI with the boon given to an asura (demon) to deliver benefits to humanity, Sitharaman said: "A good is never without riders, a good is never on its own good. It is for us all to use it in such a way that it is for the common good."

The finance minister stressed the need for giving the workforce AI skills amid threats that 80 per cent of the people would be thrown out of job.

She was speaking at the launch of a report by the NITI Frontier Tech Hub on using AI to make India a developed economy.