Countries Regulating on AI and Chatbots

• 10 Apr 2023

For Prelims: Countries Banned Chat GPT, Generative Artificial Intelligence, National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence.

For Mains: Issues Associated with AI models, Countries Regulating AI and Chatbots.

Why in News?

Italy has recently banned ChatGPT due to concerns over the collection of personal data and the lack of guardrails to prevent minors from accessing the AI chatbot.

What are the Other Countries Regulating AI and Chatbots?

• India:
  • NITI Aayog, has issued some guiding documents on AI Issued such as the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence and the Responsible AI for All report.
  • Emphasises social and economic inclusion, innovation, and trustworthiness.
• European Union:
  • Proposed legislation called the European AI Act to introduce a common regulatory framework for AI.
    • The AI Act will also work in tandem with other laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  • Classifies different AI tools according to perceived risk level and imposes different obligations and transparency requirements.
  • May include ChatGPT under the General Purpose AI Systems category, which describes tools that can perform multiple functions.
• United Kingdom:
  • Outlined a light-touch approach, asking regulators in different sectors to apply existing regulations to AI.
  • Published a white paper outlining five principles companies should follow: safety, security and robustness; transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress.
• China:
  • While China hasn’t officially blocked ChatGPT, OpenAI does not allow users to sign up for the chatbot in the country.
    • OpenAI also blocks users from other countries with heavy internet censorship such as Russia, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Ukraine, and a few more.

Note: Till yet, US doesn’t have comprehensive federal legislation on AI and Chatbot yet.

What are the Concerns Related to Rising AI Software and Chatbots?

• Privacy:
  • Training AI models requires access to large amounts of data, which could include personal and sensitive information.
    • There is a risk that this data could be used for unethical purposes, such as for targeted advertising or for political manipulation.
• Responsibility:
  • Since AI models can generate new content, such as images, audio, or text it may be used to generate fake news or other malicious content, without knowing who is responsible for the output.
    • This could lead to ethical dilemmas over responsibility.
• Automation and Lowering Job:
  • AI has the potential to automate many processes, which could lead to job displacement for people who are skilled in those areas.
    • This raises questions about the ethics of using AI for job displacement and the potential impact on workers and society.

Conclusion

Regulations and standards must be put in place to ensure that AI models are used in a responsible and ethical manner. AI models are only as good as the data they are trained on, so it is important to ensure that the data used for training AI models is ethical and unbiased. This includes ensuring that the data used for training is collected and used in a way that respects the privacy of individuals and does not reinforce existing biases.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ)

Q1. With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (2020)

1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units
2. Create meaningful short stories and songs
3. Disease diagnosis
4. Text-to-Speech Conversion
5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 4 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Ans: (b)

Q2. Consider the following pairs: (2018)

	Terms sometimes seen in news	Context/Topic
1.	Belle II experiment	Artificial Intelligence
2.	Blockchain technology	Digital/Cryptocurrency
3.	CRISPR–Cas9	Particle Physics

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans: (b)

Source: IE