Union minister Jitin Prasada on Monday urged caution in the use of artificial intelligence, warning that AI-generated misinformation could undermine democratic systems.
Speaking at a session in the AI Impact Summit, the minister of state for electronics and information technology said AI can improve learning for students and teachers, but stressed 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 added.
The minister noted that responsibility lies not just with the government. "But everybody has to contribute," he said. On AI in education, Prasada said the technology should be integrated beyond the school curriculum.
"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," he said, adding that students should understand computational thinking and its best use cases.
He cautioned that AI should not be used as a shortcut.
"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.
Prasada said that over time, using AI as a shortcut would be counterproductive, and teachers should use it 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," he said.
The minister also highlighted steps by the government to make data available to researchers, innovators, and domestic industry for creating AI models and solutions.
"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 said.