PM Modi co-chairs AI Action Summit; emphasises collective global efforts to establish governance and standards

PM Modi, who co-chaired AI Action Summit in Paris with France President Emmanuel Macron, said that AI can help transform millions of lives through improvements in areas such as health, education and agriculture.

The Summit concluded with the adoption of the Leaders' Statement. The summit featured discussions on critical themes, including greater access to AI infrastructure to ensure inclusion, the responsible use of AI, AI for public interest, making AI more diverse and sustainable, and ensuring safe and trusted governance of AI.

India has offered to host the next AI Summit.

At the Plenary Session, President Macron invited PM Modi to deliver the opening address as the co-chair of the summit. The Prime Minister noted that the world was at the dawn of the AI age where this technology was fast writing the code for humanity and re-shaping our polity, economy, security and society.

Citing a simple experiment, PM Modi said that while the positive potential of AI is absolutely amazing, there are many biases that "we need to think carefully about".

"AI is already re-shaping our polity, our economy, our security and even our society. AI is writing the code for humanity in this century. But, it is very different from other technology milestones in human history," he said.

PM Modi said AI is developing at an unprecedented scale and speed and being adopted and deployed even faster.

"There is also a deep inter-dependence across borders. Therefore, there is a need for collective global efforts to establish governance and standards, that uphold our shared values, address risks, and build trust," he said.

"But, Governance is not just about managing risks and rivalries. It is also about promoting innovation, and deploying it for the global good. So, we must think deeply and discuss openly about innovation and governance. Governance is also about ensuring access to all, especially in the Global South. It is where the capacities are most lacking - be it compute power, talent, data, or the financial resources. AI can help transform millions of lives by improving health, education, agriculture and so much more," he added.

PM Modi said AI can help create a world in which the journey to Sustainable Development Goals becomes easier and faster.

"To do this, we must pool together resources and talent. We must develop open-source systems that enhance trust and transparency. We must build quality data sets, free from biases. We must democratise technology and create people-centric applications. We must address concerns related to cyber security, disinformation, and deep fakes. And, we must also ensure that technology is rooted in local ecosystems for it to be effective and useful," he said.

He said that loss of jobs is AI's most feared disruption but, history has shown that work does not disappear due to technology. "Its nature changes and new types of jobs are created. We need to invest in skilling and re-skilling our people for an AI-driven future," he said.

PM Modi said there is no doubt that the high energy intensity of AI needs to be looked into. This will require green power to fuel its future.

"India and France have worked together for years through initiatives like the International Solar Alliance to harness the power of the sun. As we advance our partnership to AI, it is a natural progression from sustainability to innovation to shape a smarter and responsible future," he said.

"At the same time, Sustainable AI does not only mean using clean energy. AI models must also be efficient and sustainable in size, data needs and resource requirements. After all, the human brain manages to compose poetry and design space ships using less power than most lightbulbs," he added.

PM Modi said India has successfully built a Digital Public Infrastructure for over 1.4 billion people at a very low cost.

"It is built around an open and accessible network. It has regulations, and a wide range of applications to modernize our economy, reform governance and transform the lives of our people. We have unlocked the power of data through our Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture. And, we have made digital commerce democratic and accessible to all. This vision is the foundation of India's National AI Mission," he said.

"That is why, during our G20 Presidency, we built a consensus on Harnessing AI Responsibly, for Good, and for All. Today, India leads in AI adoption, and techno-legal solutions on data privacy," he said.

PM Modi said India is developing AI applications for public good. "We have one of the world's largest AI talent pools. India is building its own Large Language Model considering our diversity. We also have a unique public-private partnership model for pooling resources like compute power. It is made available to our start-ups and researchers at an affordable cost. And, India is ready to share its experience and expertise to ensure that the AI future is for Good, and for All," he said.

"We are at the dawn of the AI age that will shape the course of humanity. Some people worry about machines becoming superior in intelligence to humans. But, no one holds the key to our collective future and shared destiny other than us humans. That sense of responsibility must guide us," he said.

In his concluding remarks, PM Modi said today's discussions have brought out one thing - there is unity in vision and unity in purpose across stakeholders.

"I welcome the decision to set up 'AI Foundation' and the 'Council for Sustainable AI'. I congratulate France and my dear friend President Macron for these initiatives and assure our full support. We must also make the 'Global Partnership for AI' truly global in nature. It should be more inclusive of the Global South and its priorities, concerns and needs. To build on the momentum of this Action Summit, India would be happy to host the next Summit," he said.

In a post on X, PM Modi said that the summit was a commendable effort to foster meaningful conversations around AI.

"The AI Action Summit in Paris is a commendable effort to bring together world leaders, policy makers, thinkers, innovators and youngsters to have meaningful conversations around AI."

The week-long summit, which began with the Science Days on February 6-7, followed by the Cultural Weekend on February 8-9, culminated in a High-Level Segment attended by global leaders, policymakers, and industry experts.

The High-Level Segment commenced with a dinner hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on February 10, bringing together Heads of State and Government, leaders of international organizations, CEOs of major AI companies and other distinguished participants. (ANI)