Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Global Partnership on AI Summit 2023.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, where he underlined the negative impacts of AI, which despite being the strongest tool in global development can play a pivotal role in its destruction. He also called on countries to create a framework for ethical AI use on an immediate basis

Speaking at the summit, PM Modi pointed specifically to the use of deepfakes to purposefully spread misinformation or used for malicious purposes. "AI has several positive impacts, but it has many negative impacts too, which is a matter of concern. AI can become the biggest tool in the development of the 21st century. But it can also play the biggest role in destroying the 21st century... Deepfake is a challenge for the whole world... AI tools going into the hands of terrorists are also a big threat. If terrorist organisations get AI weapons, this will have a huge impact on global security... We need to plan how to tackle this," he said.

The Prime Minister also underlined the responsibility enshrined upon each nation and recalled interacting with various industry leaders of AI and having discussions regarding the GPAI Summit, while calling on countries to move with caution regarding the use of AI, according to an official release.

India is a main player in AI: PM Modi

During the summit, PM Modi highlighted that India is a main player in the field of AI talent and AI-related ideas. "Our development mantra in India is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. We have prepared government policies and programmes inspired by the spirit of 'AI for All'. Our endeavour is to take full advantage of the capabilities of AI for social development and inclusive growth. India is fully committed to the responsible and ethical use of AI," he said during his address.

He also spoke on the recently launched AI agriculture chatbot which will help farmers in various aspects of farming as well as its use in the fields of healthcare and Sustainable Development Goals. He also highlighted a National Program on Artificial Intelligence, and the soon-to-be-launched AI Mission which aims to establish the computing powers of AI.

PM Modi also asserted that the government seeks to take maximum advantage of AI’s capabilities for social development and inclusive growth, while also committing to its responsible and ethical usage. "There is no doubt that AI is transformative but it is up to us to make it more and more transparent," he mentioned.

Noting the hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects in India, the Prime Minister suggested using AI to make digital services available in local languages to increase digital inclusion. He also suggested using AI to revive the languages that are no longer spoken, taking forward the rich knowledge base and literature of the Sanskrit language and reuniting the missing volumes of Vedic mathematics.

Since the inception of GPAI in June 2020, India has made significant contributions to this summit by actively engaging in various initiatives to foster the development, deployment, and adoption of open, safe, secure, and accountable AI.

About GPAI Summit

GPAI is a multi-stakeholder initiative with 29 member countries, which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities. India is the lead chair of GPAI in 2024 and is hosting the Annual GPAI Summit from December 12-14.

The summit will witness the participation of 50+ GPAI experts and 150+ speakers from across the countries, according to the PMO. Further, Top AI game changers from across the world will be participating in different events including Intel, Reliance Jio, Google, Meta, AWS, Yotta, Netweb, Paytm and Bhashini.

"I am extremely happy that this summit will be chaired in India next year. This summit is being organised at a time when a huge debate is underway across the world over AI," PM Modi said further. The GPAI was developed within the G7 and was launched in June 2020 with 15 members.

India is a founding member of GPAI, having joined the multi-stakeholder initiative on June 15, 2020. The third Annual GPAI Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan, on November 21-22, 2022. This two-day summit saw participation from senior government leaders from 24 countries and AI leaders from India, European Union (EU) and other multilateral organisations.(ANI)