New Delhi | Eminent personalities such as former Niti Ayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Zoho Corporation CEO Sridhar Vembu on Monday warned of potentially catastrophic impact of powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) on humanity and called for a debate on its utilisation to meet national goals.
An open letter by Kumar, Vembu and iSPIRT Foundation Co-Founder Sharad Sharma acknowledges the need for artificial intelligence (AI) for a developing country like India but also raised concern over millions of jobs that the technology will put at risk.
"It is now evident that the emergence of powerful AI, with all its transformational potential, could also be the harbinger of chaotic – and potentially catastrophic – consequences for humanity. Finding an answer to this existential question is a categorical imperative for all nations including India," the letter said.
The open letter said that there has been exponential growth in the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) but the emergent properties of Generative AI are not understood or explainable by the modellers themselves.
There have been studies which show that people are using AI tools like ChatGPT to write letters, articles, debates etc.
"We are fully aware that for a developing country like India, application of AI in various fields provides an opportunity to pole-vault the traditional, linear growth paths," the letter said.
According to the signatories, deploying advanced technologies optimally and strategically can create a potent mix of resources and infrastructure that can yield more equitable and sustainable growth.
"For a remarkably young country like India, with a median age of 29, AI offers a huge opportunity to raise labour productivity, build a knowledge society and further enhance our demographic dividend. At the same time, it is also clear that AI could put millions of jobs at risk almost overnight," the letter said.
The letter cites issues raised by The Future of Life Institute which aims to steer transformative technologies away from extreme, large-scale risks and towards benefiting life.
The institute has called for putting a pause on the developing AI system more powerful than GPT-4 to provide space for the development of safety protocols for AI.
"India should also use this time to draw up its own blueprint for AI development so as to harness all possible benefits of AI while minimizing socio-economic disruption," the letter by the prominent Indian figures said.
The letter calls for all stakeholders – IT researchers, policymakers, academicians in other disciplines, industry leaders, and members of civil society – to join the debate called upon by Future of Life Institutes to evolve a national consensus on the best way to use AI for achieving national goals.