Prominent Figures Urge Urgent Debate on Artificial Intelligence's Impact on India in Light of ChatGPT4.0 Developments

In a joint effort to spark a conversation about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on India, three prominent figures have released an open letter. Dr Rajiv Kumar, former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog and Chairman of Pahle India Foundation, Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation and Chairman of Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan, and Sharad Sharma, Cofounder of iSPIRT Foundation, have signed and released the letter.

The letter urges policymakers, academicians, thinkers, and tech-experts to join the debate on AI's impact on India in the wake of recent developments related to ChatGPT4.0. The authors believe that the conversation about AI's role in society is more critical than ever, and they are appealing for urgent action. The letter is consistent with the concerns recently expressed by Elon Musk and other experts regarding the training of AI models on a large scale. 

The letter comes amidst concerns about the potential impact of AI on India's economy and society. The authors argue that AI has the potential to revolutionize various sectors in India, but it also presents significant risks, such as job losses, ethical concerns, and potential biases.

The signatories hope that their call to action will encourage more people to engage in a dialogue about AI's impact on India and that policymakers will take heed of the concerns raised in the letter.

ChatGPT4.0 is a multimodal large language model created by OpenAI, a research organization based in San Francisco, USA. It was released on March 14, 2023, and has been made publicly available in a limited form via ChatGPT Plus, with access to its commercial API being provided via a waitlist . According to OpenAI, ChatGPT4.0 is capable of generating natural language texts based on text or image inputs, exhibiting human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks. For example, it can pass a simulated bar exam with a score around the top 10% of test takers; write creative and technical texts such as songs, screenplays, or code; and answer complex questions with greater accuracy than previous models.

Dr Rajiv Kumar, former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and Chairman, Pahle India Foundation @RajivKumar1 Sridhar Vembu, CEO, Zoho Corporation and Chairman Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan @svembu and Sharad Sharma, Cofounder iSPIRT Foundation @Product_nation jointly sign and release an open… pic.twitter.com/AmVaCvs5IM

— Pahle India Foundation (@PahleIndia) April 3, 2023

These authors acknowledge the potential benefits of such a powerful AI system for various domains and applications, but also recognize the serious risks and challenges that it poses for India’s society, economy, security, and sovereignty. Some of the possible risks and challenges could be:

Ethical and social implications: 

ChatGPT4.0 may generate texts that are biased, misleading, harmful, or offensive to certain groups or individuals. It may also violate ethical principles such as fairness, accountability, transparency, and privacy. Moreover, it may influence people’s opinions, behaviors, and decisions in subtle or overt ways, affecting their autonomy and agency.

Economic and employment impacts: 

ChatGPT4.0 may disrupt various sectors and industries that rely on human language skills, such as education, journalism, law, entertainment, and customer service. It may also create new opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, but also widen the digital divide and exacerbate inequalities among different regions, sectors, and groups.

Security and sovereignty threats: 

ChatGPT4.0 may be used for malicious purposes such as cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, propaganda, espionage, or sabotage. It may also pose a strategic challenge for India’s national security and sovereignty, as it is controlled by a foreign entity that may not share India’s interests or values.

Given these risks and challenges, India’s policymakers, academicians, thinkers and tech-experts should engage in a proactive and inclusive dialogue on AI governance and regulation. India needs to develop its own vision and strategy for AI development and deployment that aligns with its national goals and values. Additionally, India needs to invest more in AI research and innovation that addresses its unique needs and challenges. India also needs to collaborate more with other countries and stakeholders that share its vision and values for AI.

This open letter will spark a constructive and timely discussion on AI and its impact on India among all relevant actors. It's kind of an invitation to all interested parties to join in this discussion and contribute their perspectives and insights.