'Digital Nagriks' not to be experimented with ‘unreliable’ AI models, govt tells Google India

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) The Centre has issued a warning to Google India regarding the use of ‘unreliable’ algorithms or AI models on India’s ‘Digital Nagriks’. The IT Ministry is set to issue a notice to the tech giant over “problematic and illegal” responses by Google’s Gemini AI.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, emphasized the legal obligation of internet and digital platforms to maintain safety and trust. He stated, “Our ‘Digital Nagriks’ are not to be experimented on with ‘unreliable’ platforms/algorithms/models.”

The warning came after Google acknowledged that its AI platform Gemini had generated inappropriate responses regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A Google spokesperson mentioned that Gemini may not always be reliable, especially in responding to prompts about current events or political topics.

Chandrasekhar highlighted that the issues with Google’s AI platform are direct violations of the Intermediary Rules of the IT Act and several provisions of the Criminal code. In response, Google has temporarily paused the ability of Gemini AI to generate images of people.