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

The Indian government, through the Centre, has issued a stern warning to Google India, cautioning against the experimentation with 'unreliable' algorithms or AI models on India's digital citizens, termed 'Digital Nagriks'. This warning comes as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (IT) prepares to issue a notice to the tech giant regarding what it deems as "problematic and illegal" responses generated by Google's Gemini AI.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express the government's stance, stressing that the legal responsibility to ensure safety and trust rests squarely on internet and digital platforms.

Chandrasekhar emphasised, "Our 'Digital Nagriks' are not to be experimented on with 'unreliable' platforms/algorithms/models." He reiterated that ensuring safety and trust is a legal obligation for these platforms and that simply apologising for unreliability does not exempt them from the law.

The minister's response was prompted by Google's acknowledgement earlier in the day, where the tech giant admitted to addressing the issue of controversial responses generated by its AI platform, Gemini, particularly concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A spokesperson for Google stated, "We've worked quickly to address this issue. Gemini is built as a creativity and productivity tool and may not always be reliable, especially when it comes to responding to some prompts about current events, political topics, or evolving news." The spokesperson added, "This is something that we're constantly working on improving."

The controversy arose when Google's generative AI platform, Gemini, responded in an "objectionable" manner to a prompt involving PM Modi.

Chandrasekhar, in a statement on Friday, highlighted that such responses constitute "direct violations of Rule 3(1)(b) of Intermediary Rules (IT rules) of the IT Act and violations of several provisions of the Criminal code."

In response to the uproar, Google has announced a temporary pause on Gemini AI's ability to generate images of people, as the company works to address the concerns raised by the Indian government and users alike.