New Delhi Declaration’ on artificial intelligence adopted

New Delhi Declaration’ on artificial intelligence adopted

Subject : IR

Section: Int Groupings

Context: Representatives from 28 countries and the European Union convened to adopt the ‘New Delhi Declaration’ at the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) summit.

Hosting the summit, India is set to chair the GPAI grouping in 2024.

Key points of ‘New Delhi Declaration’

The New Delhi declaration has attempted to find a balance between innovation and the risks associated with AI systems. While it is largely upbeat about the economic benefits that AI can bring, it also flags issues around fairness, privacy, and intellectual property rights that will have to be taken into consideration.

The declaration said that a global framework for use of AI should be rooted in democratic values and human rights; safeguarding dignity and well-being; ensuring personal data protection; the protection of applicable intellectual property rights, privacy, and security; fostering innovation; and promoting trustworthy, responsible, sustainable, and human-centred use of AI.

Commitment to AI Principles: The declaration reaffirms the commitment to responsible stewardship of trustworthy AI, emphasizing democratic values, human rights, and a human-centered approach.

Focus on Trustworthy AI: GPAI aims to promote the trustworthy development, deployment, and use of AI across member countries.

GPAI’s Inclusive Approach and Global Impact

Inclusivity and Global South Participation: The declaration emphasizes the inclusion of countries in the Global South, aiming to make AI benefits universally accessible.

GPAI members also promoted equitable access to critical resources for AI innovation including computing, high-quality diverse datasets, algorithms, software, testbeds, and other AI-relevant resources.

It said that the GPAI will pursue a diverse membership, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries to ensure a broad range of expertise, national and regional views, and experiences based on shared values.

Japan’s Role as Outgoing Chair: The previous summit, chaired by Japan, set the stage for expanding the GPAI’s reach and inclusivity.

Addressing Modern Challenges: The declaration acknowledges the need to address issues like misinformation, unemployment, and threats to human rights in the AI context.

Collaborative Efforts and Future Goals

Pooling Resources for AI Solutions: Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s Minister for Digital Transition and Telecommunications, highlighted the importance of leveraging OECD resources for AI development and governance.

Encouraging Broader Participation: Japan and India emphasized the importance of including more developing countries in GPAI.

Senegal’s Involvement: Senegal has joined the GPAI steering committee, marking a significant step towards greater inclusivity.

India’s Contribution to AI in Agriculture

Agriculture as a Priority: The declaration also agreed to support AI innovation in the agriculture sector as a new “thematic priority”. The declaration specifically acknowledges India’s role in bringing agriculture into the AI agenda.

Support for Sustainable Agriculture: The commitment to using AI innovation in sustainable agriculture is a new thematic priority for GPAI.

How does the New Delhi declaration contrast with the Bletchley declaration?

• While the GPAI New Delhi declaration addresses the need to tackle AI-related risks, it largely supports innovation in the technology in various sectors, including agriculture and healthcare. The essence of the declaration can be summed up as follows: AI is inherently good and is a catalyst for economic growth, but some harms need to be mitigated along the way.
• By contrast, the declaration that was signed at the UK AI Safety Summit last month put security and safety risks related to AI in the centre of the discussions. At the Bletchley Park meeting, 28 major countries including the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and India, and the European Union agreed to sign on a declaration saying global action is needed to tackle the potential risks of AI.
• The declaration noted the “potential for serious, even catastrophic, harm, either deliberate or unintentional, stemming from the most significant capabilities of these AI models”, as well as risks beyond frontier AI, including those of bias and privacy. “Frontier AI” is defined as highly capable foundation generative AI models that could possess dangerous capabilities that can pose severe risks to public safety.