NITI Aayog paper on AI a good start, but lacks implementation roadmap: Experts

Niti Aayog

The government’s premier policy think tank NITI Aayog has laid the groundwork for evolving the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, and has identified potential sectors that can reap its benefit.

However, the first discussion paper released on Monday offers little by way of concrete solutions to use AI constructively as an economy growth driver.

Experts Moneycontrol spoke to welcomed the paper as a first step, but pointed out the lack of proper implementation strategies laid down in the paper.

Issues of data privacy and intellectual property rights (IPR) have been mentioned, but the paper does not elaborate on how these issues can be tackled.

Pointing out the five sectors -- healthcare, agriculture, smart cities, education and transportation -- as those that will gain the most from AI in solving societal needs, the think tank also mentioned certain barriers that need to be addressed.

While most industry watchers and experts welcomed the paper, most said that implementation of the ideas articulated in it will be key. The paper itself highlights challenges faced across sectors and growth areas, but does not talk a lot about solutions.

"Explainable AI finds mention here (in the paper), very interesting to watch this development. We need to catch up, more investment in R&D, education and privacy protection (is required)," said Mishi Choudhary, technology lawyer and Managing Partner, Mishi Choudhary & Associates.

The paper said that India lacks broad-based expertise in research and application of AI, and that there is an absence of enabling data ecosystems, i.e. access to intelligent data.

In addition, high cost of resources and low awareness for adoption of AI, privacy and security, as well as absence of a collaborative approach to adopt and apply AI could be some of the barriers towards implementation.

Welcoming the discussion paper, Center for Internet Security (CIS), a Bengaluru-based non-profit working on technology and civil society issues, pointed out that it does not address several key issues.

While the paper recommends corporate data sharing for 'social good' and making data sets from the social sector available publicly, there is no mention of privacy-enhancing technologies such as pseudonymisation, anonymisation standards, or differential privacy, CIS said.

As a part of the Union Budget for FY19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government will initiate a national programme, under NITI Aayog, to direct its efforts in the area of artificial intelligence.

The programme will be responsible for research and development of its applications.

Towards this end, the policy think tank released a paper on Monday, which provided several recommendations and is also open for wider consultations to refine the proposals.

According to a study released by global professional services firm Accenture, AI is expected to raise India's annual growth rate by 1.3 percentage points in 2035.

"This amounts to an addition of $957 billion, or 15 percent of current gross value added (a close approximation of GDP), to India's economy in 2035 compared with a scenario without AI," the study said.

The study also pointed out that India is not prepared to seize the opportunities that artificial intelligence can present, as the country lags on key indicators of AI development.

CIS also said that the paper provides blanket recommendations without looking at its viability in each sector. For instance, what works for healthcare might not work for agriculture.

In addition, societal, cultural and sector-specific challenges have barely been touched upon, it said.

The paper also lacks information on the use of AI in defence operations, which is worrying since India is chairing the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) in 2018, CIS said.