TRAI Recommendation for AI

July 21, 2023

GS Paper III Indian Economy

Context: Recently, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a set of recommendations to govern development of artificial intelligence (AI) across sectors.

Need: it is important to regulate specific AI use cases that may have a direct impact on humans within a risk-based framework.

Important Highlight of Recommendations

Establish Artificial Intelligence and Data Authority of India( AIDAI), an independent statutory authority, that will act both as a regulator and recommendatory body and play an advisory role for all AI-related domains.
- AIDAI will be responsible for framing regulations on various aspects of AI, including its responsible use, defining principles of responsible AI and their applicability to AI use cases based on risk assessment and evolving a framework based on its assessment, global best practices and public consultation.
Establish Multi-Stakeholder Body (MSB): It will act as an advisory body to the AIDAI.
- Composition: It should have members from different ministries/departments, industry, legal experts, cyber experts, academia and research institutes posed framework recommends the categorisation of AI use cases.
Categorizing AI systems: Based on their risks and regulating them according to principles of responsible AI.
- Based on their potential impact on society and individuals will enable targeted oversight and supervision.
Utilization Of AI: TRAI encouraged the deployment of AI by telecommunication companies to combat the menace of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC).
- By leveraging AI and machine learning (ML) technologies, telcos can proactively detect and prevent spam, safeguarding the interests of their customers.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTy) should be the administrative ministry for AI.
Global Regulation: Government to work with international agencies and governments from other countries to establish a global agency that would serve as the primary international body for AI development, standardization, and responsible use.

About Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

It was established in 1997 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.
Function of TRAI
- To create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications.
- To provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.
- It regulates telecom services including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.
Headquarters: New Delhi.

About Artificial intelligence

It is the ability of machines to perform certain tasks, which need the intelligence showcased by humans and animals.
It allows machines to understand and achieve specific goals. AI includes machine learning via deep learning.
- Machine Learning refers to machines automatically learning from existing data without being assisted by human beings.
- Deep learning allows the machine to absorb huge amounts of unstructured data such as text, images, and audio.
Any AI system must be able to have some of the following characteristics: Observation, analytical ability, problem solving, learning, etc.