Regulating AI is not easy, and China might be the only country ready to take the leap; this tech expert explains why
Business Today caught up with Jaspreet Bindra, founder of Tech Whisperer and a scholar at University of Cambridge, where he is researching AI. Bindra points out that at present, only China has the vision and ability to regulate AI.
- Jun 19, 2023,
- Updated Jun 19, 2023 6:11 PM IST
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been calling regulators across the world to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure that the transformative emerging technology is not misused in any way. Regulators, including in the US and the EU have also stepped up with proposals and frameworks to start regulating AI.
Despite the efforts of policy makers and industry insiders like Altman, there isn’t much clarity on how AI could be possibly regulated globally in an efficient manner by ensuring that innovation is not nipped in the bud.
Business Today caught up with Jaspreet Bindra, founder of Tech Whisperer and a scholar at University of Cambridge, where he is researching AI. Bindra points out that at present, only China has the vision and ability to regulate AI.
“At the current point in time, only China has the vision, experience and expertise which would be required to regulate AI,” Bindra, who was formerly the Chief Digital Officer at Mahindra, said.
“Their experience in regulating the internet will come in handy when they try to regulate AI,” Bindra reasoned.
China has the most comprehensive internet regulation policy in the whole world. The Chinese government blocks all content which they do not find suitable and also monitors Internet access to individuals.
Speaking of regulation, OpenAI’s Altman has proposed regulation through licensing. Bindra explains that this approach would “favour the incumbents. The people who are already in- like OpenAI will be licensed. The newer ones will have to struggle, etc. I don't know whether it's the right thing.”
He explained Sam Altman’s approach to regulation. “Altman is suggesting licensing. This means, whichever company wants to produce generative AI, they should buy a licence, or bid for a licence or be granted a licence by regulators. And the licence should permit what can be done and what cannot be done. And if you kind of do stuff which is right outside the scope of the licence, then the licence will be withdrawn,” Bindra explained.
The ex- CDO of Mahindra also noted that another suggestion made by people is to regulate use cases and applications of AI within different industries. “For example, the healthcare industry regulator will regulate use cases of AI in healthcare, the education regulator in that sector, etc. But this approach becomes too scattered,” he added.
In his research at Cambridge, Bindra has advocated for a third kind of regulation, a global regulation for AI, just like that of Nuclear Weapons.
“Even if each country creates its own regulation, it won’t matter because AI is a technology which does not respect borders. There needs to be a global body, something like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) This is now being advocated by many industry leaders, even Altman himself,” he explained.
But there is a caveat to this arrangement as well, the AI policy expert added. “Although this would be the ideal solution, but it is not very feasible. The world and its superpowers are extremely divided up, and for all of them to come together and agree on a single regulation for AI, it seems very difficult,” said Bindra.
Also Read: Layoffs at Meta India: Employees in marketing, admin, HR fired
Also Read: Amazon defers offer letters of campus hires from IITs/ NITs
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been calling regulators across the world to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure that the transformative emerging technology is not misused in any way. Regulators, including in the US and the EU have also stepped up with proposals and frameworks to start regulating AI.
Despite the efforts of policy makers and industry insiders like Altman, there isn’t much clarity on how AI could be possibly regulated globally in an efficient manner by ensuring that innovation is not nipped in the bud.
Business Today caught up with Jaspreet Bindra, founder of Tech Whisperer and a scholar at University of Cambridge, where he is researching AI. Bindra points out that at present, only China has the vision and ability to regulate AI.
“At the current point in time, only China has the vision, experience and expertise which would be required to regulate AI,” Bindra, who was formerly the Chief Digital Officer at Mahindra, said.
“Their experience in regulating the internet will come in handy when they try to regulate AI,” Bindra reasoned.
China has the most comprehensive internet regulation policy in the whole world. The Chinese government blocks all content which they do not find suitable and also monitors Internet access to individuals.
Speaking of regulation, OpenAI’s Altman has proposed regulation through licensing. Bindra explains that this approach would “favour the incumbents. The people who are already in- like OpenAI will be licensed. The newer ones will have to struggle, etc. I don't know whether it's the right thing.”
He explained Sam Altman’s approach to regulation. “Altman is suggesting licensing. This means, whichever company wants to produce generative AI, they should buy a licence, or bid for a licence or be granted a licence by regulators. And the licence should permit what can be done and what cannot be done. And if you kind of do stuff which is right outside the scope of the licence, then the licence will be withdrawn,” Bindra explained.
The ex- CDO of Mahindra also noted that another suggestion made by people is to regulate use cases and applications of AI within different industries. “For example, the healthcare industry regulator will regulate use cases of AI in healthcare, the education regulator in that sector, etc. But this approach becomes too scattered,” he added.
In his research at Cambridge, Bindra has advocated for a third kind of regulation, a global regulation for AI, just like that of Nuclear Weapons.
“Even if each country creates its own regulation, it won’t matter because AI is a technology which does not respect borders. There needs to be a global body, something like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) This is now being advocated by many industry leaders, even Altman himself,” he explained.
But there is a caveat to this arrangement as well, the AI policy expert added. “Although this would be the ideal solution, but it is not very feasible. The world and its superpowers are extremely divided up, and for all of them to come together and agree on a single regulation for AI, it seems very difficult,” said Bindra.
Also Read: Layoffs at Meta India: Employees in marketing, admin, HR fired
Also Read: Amazon defers offer letters of campus hires from IITs/ NITs
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine