Government may tighten IT rules to Address AI-related concerns

The government plans to amend the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2021 to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) companies and generative AI models. The amendments aim to ensure that platforms using AI algorithms or language models are unbiased. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is expected to introduce rules preventing AI models with inherent biases or trained on “biassed” datasets from being launched for public use.

Additionally, the IT Rules amendments may address deepfake and synthetic content and provide guidelines for loan apps. The government will focus on preventing biases related to caste, religion, community, and national security. Platforms will be legally obligated to follow these parameters to enhance internet trust and safety. Consultations will be conducted to identify additional bias elimination measures.

AI models must undergo sandbox and stress testing to ensure they are bias-free before market release. The government might introduce similar provisions in the Digital India Bill, empowering users to seek algorithmic accountability. The release of the Digital India Bill may be delayed until after the general election, prompting the IT Act amendments due to rapid developments in generative AI.

The advisory on deepfake and synthetic content will provide specific guidelines for platforms, and for loan apps, intermediaries will be responsible for preventing fraudulent advertising and hosting unauthorised apps. The IT ministry aims to restrict fraudulent loan apps’ access to the banking system through white-listing legitimate applications or implementing a banking gateway to block transactions. This approach seeks to diminish the functionality of online betting or fraudulent loan apps by denying them access to legitimate banking solutions through predictive algorithms.