Govt Ministries Queue Up To Adopt AI; Law May Follow Soon

The Central government has received 762 proposals and suggestions from different ministries on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to adopt AI in government departments. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has revealed that hundreds of AI proposals have already been submitted by government so far."Several ministries have submitted proposals based on their AI requirements after the PM had asked all ministries to apply AI. 762 suggestions were received and we are working with various agencies," S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, said.The proposals are expected to help the government identify areas where AI can improve public services, increase efficiency and support better decision-making

across ministries.

According to ANI, on the possibility of a separate law to regulate AI, Krishnan said discussions are expected to begin with different stakeholder groups before any legislation is drafted."Will have to start discussing in various groups as to what the stakeholders think about it, and then start drafting a law.," he said.Last week, the senior MeitY official said that the time has come to introduce separate laws and regulations for AISpeaking on the issue, Krishnan had said, "Probably the time has come now to look at a separate legislation for AI. At the Ministry level, what we can do is prepare a draft regulation for AI."Apart from AI adoption and regulation, Krishnan also spoke about the government's ongoing scrutiny of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta.On the notice issued to Meta over allegations related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) advertisements, he said the government will wait for the company's official response before deciding on the next course of action."We will await the formal response on the notice we have issued, and thereafter we will take a view based on their response," Krishnan said.On Meta's newly launched Muse Image feature, the MeitY official said: "We will have to look at it with reference to the legal framework and also representation," he said.(with inputs from ANI)