iSPIRT co-founder Sharad Sharma joins UN advisory body on artificial intelligence

iSPIRT co-founder Sharad Sharma

iSPIRT Foundation's co-founder, Sharad Sharma, has been appointed as a member of the newly established United Nations' advisory body on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The 38-member advisory body, which includes senior Indian diplomat Amandeep Singh Gill, who serves as UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology, will work to establish a consensus on the global risks associated with AI and determine how international cooperation can mitigate these risks.

Sharma, who leads the iSPIRT Foundation that conceptualised India Stack, Health Stack, and other digital public goods, will bring the Indian perspective to the governance of the emerging technology.

"India's approach on the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) is distinctive. It is neither like the Chinese approach nor like the US approach. We have a different approach for personal data as well as aggregate data. This is of interest to the world," Sharma told Moneycontrol.

Sharma previously co-founded Teltier Technologies, a wireless infrastructure startup that was later acquired by Cisco. He has also held senior positions at Yahoo, Veritas, Symantec, Lucent, and AT&T.

In April, Sharma, along with Zoho's Sridhar Vembu, and former Niti Aayog vice-chairman and Pahle India Foundation Chairman Rajiv Kumar, issued a letter warning about AI, stating that it has the potential for "catastrophic consequences."

The letter added that since powerful AI can have catastrophic consequences, it is imperative for all nations, including India, to find an answer to this existential question.

The formation of the panel marks a significant step in the UN's efforts to address issues in the international governance of AI. It is also one of several international AI initiatives underway, such as the upcoming UK AI Safety Summit.

The panel is scheduled to release its preliminary recommendations by the end of 2023, followed by the final recommendations in the summer of 2024, just in time for the Summit of the Future.

The inaugural meeting of the body is slated for October 27, 2023.