|
India has taken another major step toward ensuring the safe and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the IndiaAI Mission's new set of projects aimed at strengthening deepfake detection, bias mitigation, and AI security testing. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the selection of five pioneering projects under the "Safe & Trusted AI" pillar of the IndiaAI initiative, as per a press release by the Ministry.
The announcement marks the conclusion of the second round of Expression of Interest (EoI), which was launched on December 10, 2024. The initiative received more than 400 proposals from across the country, including submissions from academic institutions, research bodies, start-ups, and civil society groups. A multi-stakeholder committee with technical experts evaluated these proposals, finally choosing five that promise to make AI safer and more transparent. Among the selected projects, IIT Jodhpur and IIT Madras will jointly develop 'Saakshya', a multi-agent, RAG-enhanced framework for deepfake detection and governance. This project focuses on tackling one of the most urgent threats in the digital space, AI-generated misinformation and manipulated media. IIT Mandi, in collaboration with the Directorate of Forensic Services, Himachal Pradesh, will lead 'AI Vishleshak', which aims to improve the detection of audio-visual deepfakes and forged signatures through explainable and robust AI models. IIT Kharagpur will work on a 'Real-Time Voice Deepfake Detection System', enhancing India's capacity to counter emerging voice-cloning technologies. Under the theme of bias mitigation, Digital Futures Lab and Karya will evaluate gender bias in agriculture language models, creating digital public goods for fair data benchmarking. Meanwhile, Globals ITES Pvt Ltd and IIIT Dharwad will jointly build Anvil, a penetration testing and evaluation tool designed to assess the safety of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI systems. The IndiaAI Mission implemented by IndiaAI, an Independent Business Division under MeitY, continues to focus on democratizing AI access and ensuring its responsible use. It strives to democratize the benefits of AI across all strata of society, bolster India's leadership in AI, foster technological self-reliance, and ensure the ethical and responsible use of AI. (ANI)
|
