Artificial Intelligence Regulation: Bridging the Gap between Europe’s AI Act and India’s Need for Legal Framework
“On artificial intelligence, trust is a must, not a nice to have” — Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in various industries, revolutionizing the way we work and live. The advancement of AI has reached fever pitch lately, with the technology fast expanding in numerous forms such as machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision and are expected to grow even further, revolutionizing the way we work, live, and interact with machines. However, there are also concerns about the ethical and legal implications of AI and the need for appropriate regulations to ensure its safe and responsible use such as bias and discrimination, loss of privacy, and even threats to human safety. Thus, there is a pressing need for regulation to ensure the responsible development and deployment of AI that can help prevent AI systems from perpetuating societal inequalities and ensure that they are developed with a focus on the public. With passing time, whole world is concerned about the issue of explainability, provability, transparency, accountability and accessibility that comes up with the advancement of AI. The lacunae created by the missing framework or regulation for AI is the biggest problem across the globe.
Current Scenario in India
India has emerged as one of the largest markets for AI with its potential to transform various sectors. Being the most populous country, the necessity for AI regulation in India has become more crucial in order to guarantee transparency and accountability in the creation and application of AI systems. Even though presently there is no specific law, but indeed, the discussion to formulate the law and framework is going on along with taking initiative to increase research in the field of AI and promoting the existing via MoUs and rolling out guiding documents. NITI Aayog is the fore front runner in doing so, for instance it has released two AI strategy documents for India: “Responsible AI” in February 2021 and “Operationalizing Principles for Responsible AI” in August 2021. The duo of laws for digital protection and right to privacy is the current law of India for AI coupled with separate guidelines targeting some specific industries. Government of India has also set up committees under MoIT to analyse the issues with AI. The country also has great hope that the expansion of the National Strategy For Artificial Intelligence will cover the remaining sectors that were not talked in this discussion paper. Amid all this, the proposal of AI framework in Europe is setting precedent for not just India but all countries just like how the GDPR did. The intended AI Act in Europe, which aims to establish a unified regulatory and legal framework for artificial intelligence, might have a significant influence on India’s legal framework need. The EU’s AI Act emphasises the need of openness and accountability in the development and deployment of AI systems, which might help India avoid the negative implications of AI. Furthermore, by conforming with international norms, India’s legal system may assist strengthen its position as a global AI market leader and encourage international collaboration on AI development.
Europe’s AI Act
The European Union laid out AI Act in April 2021 that provides a thorough regulatory and legislative framework for artificial intelligence that assigns application of AI to three risk categories, namely unacceptable risk system, high risk application system, and non-high risk application system. The Act aims to guarantee that AI is created and applied in a way that is ethical, transparent, and consistent with society values and basic human rights. The Act contains several important provisions, including the need for rigorous testing and certification of high-risk AI systems, mandatory transparency and accountability requirements for AI developers and users, and the creation of a European Artificial Intelligence Board to monitor compliance with the Act, expansion of the prescribed categories of prohibited practices, expansion of the regulatory guidance for sandboxes etc. The Act also seeks to address concerns around AI bias and discrimination by requiring developers to conduct impact assessments to identify and mitigate potential harms, as well as promoting diversity and inclusivity in the development and use of AI systems. Additionally, the Act includes provisions for data protection and privacy, such as ensuring that individuals are informed when interacting with AI systems and giving individuals the right to access and correct their data. As people become more certain that these systems are secure, open, and responsible, this strategy may help boost public confidence in AI and encourage its wider implementation. The guidelines in the act for transparency and accountability in the creation and use of AI systems, will definitely have a substantial effect from the ethical perspective of application of AI in Europe.Top of Form
How the gap will be bridged?
The impact of GDPR on India and the world shows how the European Union has been at the forefront of all framework-related developments in the field of artificial intelligence. Similar to this, the Europe AI Act is also a significant advancement in the worldwide regulation of AI, and its regulations are expected to have an impact on India and other countries.
As AI is increasingly incorporated into a range of industries and facets of society, it is essential that a uniform and open regulatory framework be in place to ensure that these systems are developed and used in a manner that is safe, ethical, and consistent with societal values. In order to guarantee that the AI systems are created and utilised in this manner, it is critical that there be a uniform and open regulatory framework in place as AI is progressively integrated into a variety of sectors and facets of society. The Europe AI Act might be used as a template by other countries to create their own AI legal frameworks. The high-risk category created by the Europe AI Act may be pertinent to other jurisdictions, such as India. The requirements for high-risk AI systems’ testing, certification, and disclosure might serve as a model for such laws in other nations. In order to reduce dangers to public safety and privacy as AI systems grow increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, it is crucial to make sure that these systems are exposed to the proper levels of inspection. Since both India and EU initiatives aim to promote the ethical and responsible development and deployment of AI technology. And their initiatives are expected to have a big effect on the future of AI legislation and governance globally since they both aim to promote the ethical and responsible development deployment of AI technology.
India may use the Europe AI Act as a benchmark to assess its development, create its own regulatory framework, and make sure it complies with international norms. A thorough legal framework that supports the proper and ethical use of AI technology is essential as India aims to become a leader in the field.
Conclusion
The European Commission’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act and India’s legislative framework for AI are two different regulatory initiatives aiming at resolving the issues brought on by the fast development and use of AI. The legal framework for artificial intelligence in India, in contrast, is still in its early phases, with a variety of efforts and recommendations being made by diverse parties.
The proposed Artificial Intelligence Act from the European Commission and India’s AI legal framework are two distinct regulatory approaches that try to address the problems brought on by the rapid development and application of AI. India’s legal framework for AI is still in its early stages, with an assortment of initiatives and suggestions being made by various parties. India can draw ideas from the AI Act in Europe and utilise it as a model to create its own regulatory system. Most of the concern that are or will be highlighted by the Indian government established committee to identify important concerns and suggest policy actions in order to start the process of creating a regulatory framework or highlighted by NITI Aayog are already addressed by Europe’s Act.
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