The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) have shared different approaches regarding the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in India. While the MCA, through the Digital Competition law is looking to curb potential harm (ex-ante), MeitY, on the other hand, may be considering actual harm posed to users.
An MCA-appointed inter-ministerial panel, Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL), is in the final stages of firming up a draft of the proposed Digital Competition Bill, which will seek to bring digital gatekeepers, including AI platforms, under the ex-ante framework.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, said the government’s approach to regulating AI will be through the prism of user harm. This will ensure that it does not harm digital citizens. This approach is not in line with the proposed Digital Competition Bill mooted by the MCA-appointed panel. The bill envisages special obligations which are required to be followed by digital gatekeepers on an ex-ante basis without waiting for actual user harm.
As per experts, these diametrically different approaches to regulating AI could pose difficult issues for the government, which is keen to harness the transformative technology’s full potential through responsible regulation. They added that balancing innovation and safety will be essential to create a sustainable and inclusive AI landscape that benefits humanity as a whole.
