Reference Article: Editorial | The Hindu – Model conduct: On India, AI use
UPSC Relevance
GS Paper II – Governance, Regulation and the Role of the State
GS Paper III – Science and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and Ethics
India currently regulates Artificial Intelligence indirectly through:
- The IT Act and IT Rules, emphasising platform due diligence
- Financial sector regulations by the RBI and SEBI
- Privacy and data protection norms under the Digital Personal Data Protection framework
This approach addresses adjacent risks such as deepfakes, fraud, model risk in credit, and accountability in regulated sectors. However, India lacks a clear consumer safety regime that defines the state’s duty of care for AI-related harms, particularly psychological and emotional harms.
China’s Consumer Safety-Oriented AI Regulation
China has proposed draft rules targeting emotionally interactive AI services. These include:
- Mandatory warnings against excessive use
- Obligations on providers to intervene when users show extreme emotional states
While these rules address psychological dependence that general content laws miss, they are also intrusive. Requiring companies to identify emotional states could incentivise deep behavioural surveillance, raising privacy and civil liberties concerns.
India’s Regulatory Gap
India’s posture is comparatively less intrusive but also incomplete:
- It relies heavily on existing legal frameworks instead of a dedicated AI safety regime
- MeitY’s interventions have been largely reactive rather than anticipatory
- There is no explicit articulation of product safety obligations or duty of care in AI deployment
This leaves psychological and consumer harms insufficiently addressed.
Balancing Regulation and Innovation
India faces a strategic dilemma:
- It is a large adopter of AI but lags behind the U.S. and China in building frontier models
- A “regulate first, build later” approach risks stifling domestic capacity and increasing dependence on foreign models
Instead, India should pursue a dual strategy.
Building Capability While Governing Use
India should focus on nurturing AI capability by:
- Improving access to computational resources
- Upskilling the workforce
- Expanding public procurement of AI solutions
- Strengthening research-to-industry linkages without regulatory paralysis
Simultaneously, it should regulate downstream use more assertively by:
- Imposing higher obligations on AI deployment in high-risk contexts
- Requiring incident reporting and response mechanisms
- Strengthening consumer protection and privacy rules without mandating intrusive emotional monitoring
Conclusion
India’s challenge is not to mirror global regulatory models but to design a framework that governs how AI is used within its markets, protects citizens from harm, and preserves innovation space. A calibrated, use-based regulatory approach can allow India to manage risks while remaining adaptable to evolving global AI trajectories.
Sample UPSC Mains Question
India lacks a dedicated consumer safety regime for Artificial Intelligence despite its growing adoption. Examine India’s current approach to AI regulation and suggest a balanced framework that ensures innovation while addressing ethical and psychological harms.