Critical: India can bridge global AI divide: Aalok Mehta

Preliminary reports suggest that this event could have a significant impact in the coming days. As we delve deeper into the details, here is everything you need to know about this unfolding situation.

Key Highlights

THE recently concluded summit in India on AI has widened glob­al discussions on artificial intel­ligence, bringing more coun­tries into conversations that were earlier led by a few, Aalok Mehta, director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Stra­tegic and International Studies (CSIS), said.Held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from February 16 to 21, the conference brought together politicians, industry leaders, ex­perts and policymakers to discuss the governance and deployment of AI. It was the fourth annual gathering on AI, with global tech­nology firms and governments announcing partnerships, invest­ments and policy approaches dur­ing the week. Aalok Mehta suggested India’s lin­guistic diversity and key sectors such as agriculture, health, and education could be areas where AI can be deployed.Eastern Eye“For a long time, conversations around AI governance have large­ly been driven by a few specific countries,” Mehta told Eastern Eye in an exclusive interview on the eve of the summit. “What the India AI Impact Sum­mit does is broaden that conversa­tion. It creates space for countries deeply affected by AI’s economic and social impacts, but often un­derrepresented in rule-setting fo­rums, to articulate their priorities.” Mehta, who took part in events at the summit, said India’s scale and experience placed it in a dis­tinct position in these discussions, as the country could “act as a bridge between advanced econo­mies and emerging markets.” The Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies, launched in 2023, focuses on in­forming policymakers and shap­ing how AI is deployed. Mehta suggested India’s lin­guistic diversity and key sectors such as agriculture, health, and education could be areas where AI can be deployed. “India has significant linguistic diversity, and so one promising area is the use of AI to help with translation and making informa­tion accessible to more of the population in more languages. We’ve seen the country take some steps in that direction with plat­forms like BHASHINI,” he remarked Drawing on his experience dur­ing the launch of ChatGPT, he said the pace of technological change has outstripped governance sys­tems. “Every major technology cycle is moving faster than the last, and AI has been the fastest yet. ChatGPT came out in 2022, so it’s changed the world significant­ly in just three or four years,” Me­hta said. Such rapid scaling has exposed institutional gaps, he commented adding, “The core challenge now is not just regulating AI, but modernis­ing our institutions so they can be more agile and responsive to tech­nologies that evolve at this speed.” He said the summit also al­lowed India to represent countries that have not been fully involved in earlier governance discussions. “This represents both a chance for India to represent its AI ambitions to the world, and also to become a voice for coun­tries around the world that have not been involved in discus­sions around AI governance and AI technology in as significant a way as probably they should have been.” On policy priorities, Mehta said most countries are unlikely to build frontier AI models at scale, due to their prohibitive costs. “These are very expen­sive, costing tens of billions of dollars now for the most ad­vanced models,” he said. Instead, he said the focus should be on applying existing technologies to domestic chal­lenges. “What countries like In­dia can do is really focus on taking existing AI technology and figuring out specific use cases they can use, that are re­ally tailored to addressing prob­lems India faces.” He added that solutions need to be grounded in local realities, with governments identifying community-level issues and building use cases accordingly. On regulation, Mehta stated global coordination is essential, stating that “AI will impact every sector and every country. It’s im­portant for countries to come to­gether and establish some base­line standards around safety, transparency and accountability that build public trust and allow innovation to scale responsibly.” Mehta highlighted fragmenta­tion in global governance as a key concern, cautioning that differing national rules could cre­ate compliance challenges. “If every country in the world has different rules when it comes to AI, then it will be very difficult for companies to develop the technology without dealing with an enormous amount of compli­ance requirements.” A shared base­line would help address this, he remarked “The goal should be to estab­lish a baseline, which is a shared understanding of what responsi­ble AI governance looks like.” He added that governments must also invest in capacity and skills, noting that “the Indian gov­ernment should take steps to edu­cate its policymakers, its civil ser­vice about AI technology, to take steps to hire experts into the gov­ernment that understand the tech­nology.” He also called for adaptive regulatory systems, saying, “Gov­ernments need iterative regulatory models, where impact can be as­sessed and revisited to create a feedback loop where governance adapts alongside technology.” Mehta said CSIS and the Wadhwani Foundation par­ticipated in the summit through engagements focused on governance, safety and economic impact. “The center is doing complementary work, focusing on is­sues like AI govern­ance, AI safety, geopol­itics, trying to establish ideas and inform policy­makers about the rele­vant ideas so that we can shape the technology in a way that helps communities.”

Additionally, details emerging from the ground suggest that this is a fast-moving scenario. The initial reports focused on the immediate aftermath, but new information is bringing more clarity to the picture.}

The Bigger Picture

To understand the significance of this event, it is important to look at the context. In recent weeks, we have seen similar trends in the News sector. Experts believe that India can bridge global AI divide: Aalok Mehta is not an isolated incident but part of a larger narrative.

Observers have pointed out that historical data often suggests a pattern in such events. However, the scale of this specific development has surprised many.

Expert Analysis & Reactions

The industry has reacted strongly to the news. Social media platforms are flooded with discussions regarding the potential consequences. While some are hopeful, others are urging caution until more official details are released.

One thing is clear: The topic of India can bridge global AI divide: Aalok Mehta will dominate conversations for the foreseeable future. Stakeholders are advised to keep a close watch on official channels.

Final Thoughts

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