AI-generated misinformation has power to derail democracies: Union Minister Jitin Prasada

Union Minister Jitin Prasada also said that AI can significantly enhance learning for students and teachers, but it must not be treated as a shortcut

New Delhi: Union Minister Jitin Prasada on Monday urged caution in the use of AI tools, saying misinformation generated through artificial intelligence has the power to undermine democratic systems.

Speaking at a session in the AI Impact Summit here, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology also said artificial intelligence (AI) can significantly enhance learning for students and teachers, but it must not be treated as a shortcut that weakens critical thinking or curiosity.

He underlined that AI cannot replace teachers and its risks in education must be carefully addressed.

"If you don't get into digital literacy, then you have the vulnerability of falling to cyber threats. Cyber security is such a big issue, and AI deep fakes misinformation. And a country like India, which is truly democratic, and elections are happening all around the year, be it at the central level, state or municipality. But if there's kind of misinformation using AI, it has the power to derail democracies.

"It has the power to change people's minds in the wrong fashion, and once a decision has been taken, as far as the vote goes, it could be so counterproductive, because you people have voted on false information. So we and the government have that challenge as well," he said.

But it is not only about the government, he said adding the government will make policies and will do everything that's possible to ensure that citizens are safe, and their futures are protected.

"But everybody has to contribute," he said.

Highlighting the importance of AI in education, the minister said this technology should be embedded not just in school curricula but across the wider education framework.

"We have to ensure that this is not merely a subject in a school curriculum. This is much more. We have to equip our young so that they contribute. It is about capacity building," Prasada said, adding the young should know about computational thinking and its best use cases.

He added that students should not view AI as a shortcut, cautioning that it must not undermine curiosity, rational thinking and the learning process.

"It's only a tool to better their lives and do something faster...As far as education goes, we can't have people using AI and somebody doing their homework, especially young. It's not a shortcut," he said.

In the long run, using AI as a shortcut will be counterproductive, he said adding teachers should also use this as an enabler.

"Some people say an AI tutor is much better. But that doesn't mean you want to replace a teacher. You can't," Prasada said.

Further, he said that the government is taking steps to ensure that data is available to researchers, innovators and domestic industry so that they can come out with models and solutions to transform people's lives.

"We are ensuring that these data sets are available, which are non personal, which are safe. And that is the real edge that India has. We have the data which no one else in the world has to that level that India has, and for AI, as everybody knows, the fuel is data," he added.