The President of the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Abhishek Singh, recently launched the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) Responsible AI hub and Resource Kit.
According to NASSCOM, data and AI hold immense potential for generating economic and social value across sectors, yet it has become critical to balance this tremendous promise with the ethical use of data and artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure public trust. To address this need, NASSCOM in collaboration, with industry partners from leading technology and management companies, has developed a Responsible AI Resource Kit. This kit comprises openly accessible self-regulation guidance and tools to enable industry actors to adopt and implement responsible AI practices.
It also includes sector-agnostic tools and guidance to enable businesses to leverage AI to grow and scale with confidence by prioritising user trust and safety. It is formulated based on the responsible AI principles of inclusivity and non-discrimination, reliability and safety, privacy, security, transparency, explainability, accountability, the protection and reinforcement of positive human values, and compliance.
The resource kit enables enterprises to independently assess and monitor the development and deployment of AI solutions for ethical compliance. It recommends management tools and structures for enterprises to evaluate and mitigate ethical risks that arise from the deployment of AI solutions. It was a culmination of ideas from industry experts from major industry players and organisations.
Abhishek Singh said that the biggest challenge in India is ensuring that the business interests match the responsible AI principles. There is a need for a multidisciplinary approach to the development of AI. “We leave out many disciplines that are more valuable for AI than physics, chemistry, and mathematics,” he explained. The government would benefit from the responsible AI resource kit for implementing various programmes. A representative from NASSCOM talked about the inherent biases in humans and the differing definitions of responsible AI. NASSCOM’s responsible AI resource kit sets a ‘common lingo’ for the country that can be used as a benchmark.
The AI market globally was nearly US $59.67 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.4% to reach around US$422.37 billion by 2028. As per a recent report, the AI market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.2% to reach US$7.8 billion by 2025, up from US$3.1 billion in 2020.
With the rapid growth of AI and machine learning (ML), experts predict that most businesses will shift to AI-powered systems, apps, security systems, data analysis, and other applications in the future. Globally, the number of AI startups has increased 14 times since 2000, and the investments in these startups have increased by six times. About 87% of companies use AI primarily for sales forecasting and improving e-mail marketing. Experts estimate that by 2030, there will be a 31.4% increase in jobs related to data science and mathematical science, mostly AI-based.
