Rajnath cautions against misuse of AI

New Delhi, July 11 (UNI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday cautioned against the misuse of artificial intelligence applications and said the country needs to think about the dangers the new technology might come up with. “We cannot stop the development of Artificial Intelligence nor should we make such an effort. But we also need to be careful about it. The bigger the change that any technology brings, the bigger and more serious is its transitional phase,” he said.“Since Artificial Intelligence is going to bring a massive change, it may bring legal, ethical, political, and economic upheaval situations. We have to be prepared for that too,” he added. Singh was addressing the first-of-its-kind symposium on ‘Artificial Intelligence in Defence’ organized by the Defence Ministry in which he launched 75 Artificial Intelligence-driven products for the armed forces.
Speaking on the issue, he said that whenever a new technology comes, society needs some time to change its political, social, and ethical standards. “When new technology comes into the society, it takes time for the society to adapt and in this transitional phase, an uncomfortable situation also arises in the society,” he said.“Artificial Intelligence should not be misused in any case. There is a need to work on AI with great care so that in the coming time, it does not get out of our own hands somewhere else,” he said. “Lest it is dominated by a single country or group of countries like nuclear power… and the rest are deprived of it. It also has to be ensured that it is used democratically,” he added.
The Minister, however, said that he was a big optimist and also looks at the future of AI from a positive perspective.
He said that a number of efforts were being made which were helpful in promoting Artificial Intelligence in defense.
Talking about advanced artificial intelligence-driven applications in defense, he said new autonomous weapons and systems have been developed that we’re able to hit their target and destroy the enemy’s establishments even without human control.
He said AI-enabled devices were also capable of handling data in large quantities and helpful in making the training of soldiers better.