ChatGPT and the Artificial Intelligence laws in India

The term Artificial Intelligence coined by American Computer Scientist John McCarthy is a field that deals with Machine Learning and its ability to respond to certain behaviours. Artificial Intelligence aims to make machines do human-like tasks such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. Artificial Intelligence is an umbrella term that encompasses within itself technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, robotics as well as machine vision.

There have been many important developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence. ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer is one such development. This is a search engine designed by the Company called ‘Open AI’ and specializes in providing information in a human-like manner.  This vast accessibility of ChatGPT comes with a vast database of knowledge, so much so that ChatGPT completed MBA exams posted by the Professor of Wharton School of Business.

The application is also equipped to provide well-developed professional e-mails, articles, etc. which otherwise would require an application of mind. But there have been concerns about the amount of personal information that the Bot was accessing while trying to put up the best possible outcome for an individual user.

Currently, India has no specific Laws regulating Artificial Intelligence in India, this article explores the current atmosphere regarding Artificial Intelligence in India, and the need for the required Artificial Intelligence Laws, especially provisions related to Data Security, considering recent developments of AI Chat Bots like ChatGPT.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a highly powerful Artificial Intelligence Bot developed by “Open AI”. This is a highly powerful Artificial Intelligence Bot that can understand Human Language and is also capable of producing in-depth writing that is easy to understand. Further, the format of ChatGPT is in the form of Questions and Answers which makes it even more interesting. Moreover, being a free application till date, it has attracted user attention worldwide. Although, a paid version of the application termed ChatGPT Plus has been launched in the USA that can be accessed for US $20.

Data protection laws in India  

Data protection is a complete set of privacy laws, policies and procedures that aims at minimizing the intrusion in one’s privacy that is caused by the collection, storage as well as dissemination of personal data. Personal Data refers to the information that can be used to identify an individual, to whom that data belongs, whether collected by the government or collected by any private agency. The Fundamental Right to Privacy has not been granted explicitly in our constitution but the judiciary has interpreted the Right to Privacy to be an integral part of other fundamental rights such as the Right to Life[1] under Article 21[2]. But, unlike European Union’s GDPR[3], India does not have personal data protection legislation yet.

Although, recently in November 2022; around the same timeline of unveiling ChatGPT by Open AI; Indian Government published the recent draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022[4].This was released on 18^th November 2022.

In absence of specific Artificial Intelligence laws in India, we must count on enaction of Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022; to bring the required data privacy in India.

Cybersecurity regulations in India and compliance requirements for chatGPT 

As discussed earlier, concerns regarding the amount of information that ChatGPT collects exist, but users continue to voluntarily provide information to ChatGPT for various purposes, ranging from their need to obtain required information or answers to simply test the application.

Further, it is an important consideration that, one of the primary features of the very application is that it simply studies the behaviour of the user, in order to generate the most appropriate output for them, but the question persists, to what extent the application can avail personal information of a user in order to create or generate the right output for them? And due to lack of proper Data Security Laws, India needs Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022[5]; to be implemented as soon as possible.

Current, legislations in India, that provide somewhat protection include:

1. The Information Technology Act 2000[6]
2. Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008[7]
3. Information Technology (SPDI) Rules 2011[8]

ChatGPT as of now, needs to comply with the aforementioned set of regulations. In addition,  as far as Cyber Security in India is concerned, organizations that choose to use ChatGPT must comply with National Cyber Security Policy, 2013[9].

The Need for Ensuring Compliance

ChatGPT undoubtedly has the potential to revolutionize the communication as well as information exchange in today’s world. It can be used for several purposes, to write your e-mails, your exams and even write lyrics for you. A lot of internet giants today are taking interest in AI chatbot technology, like Microsoft and Amazon.

These AI language Chat Bots have revolutionized the industry and are helpful in manifold sectors such as Finance, Healthcare and Education. Although the technology is not perfect, it is known to have provided inaccurate information, and sometimes even offensive responses to users. There is a need to understand that as AI technology gets more sophisticated, it poses future cyber risks and so does ChatGPT.

Hence, first of all, India needs a strict Data Security regime like GDPR[10], and must have regulations to make sure that privacy policy of these companies protect the users and that users are bound by an ethical code, that is not only hard to circumvent but comes with strict punitive actions against the user, which again needs global co-operation and communication considering that a lot of cyber criminals live beyond borders.

Conclusion

We must not inhibit the growth of technology, but it is important to regulate this technology. There must be monitoring of AI platforms to detect suspicious activity. This is because these bots are worthy of the focus of regulators. AI is continuously making utter disruptions in human life, and in the years to come, it shall hold the power to transform individuals, economies as well as societies at large. Hence, it is the need of the hour to bring required and stringent regulations in form of Artificial Intelligence Laws to establish controlled use as well as misuse of AI and ensure Cyber Security in India, especially the data protection laws must be well framed so that valuable personal data of individuals is not compromised.

FAQs

[1]Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr. vs Union of India & Ors, AIR 2017 SC 4161

[2]INDIA CONST. art. 21

[3]Regulation (Eu) 2016/679 of The European Parliament and of the Council; No. 27, The European Parliament, 2016 (European Union)

[4]The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022; (2022)

[5]Ibid

[6]The Information Technology Act 2000, No. 21, Acts of Parliament, 2000, (India)

[7]The Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008, Acts of Parliament, 2008 (India)

[8]Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules, 2011; Notification of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, 2008 (India)

[9]National Cyber Security Policy, 2013, https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/downloads/National_cyber_security_policy-2013%281%29.pdf

[10]Regulation (Eu) 2016/679 of The European Parliament and of the Council; No. 27, The European Parliament, 2016 (European Union)

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