AI may widen inequalities if misused: ex-Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

While artificial intelligence (AI) would provide unprecedented impetus to global productivity, the technology could also widen inequalities around the world if not used for the benefit of people, former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Thursday.

"We need a digital public infrastructure (DPI) for AI; the technology must be provided to researchers and startups, used for betterment of society and towards sustainability, and for better inputs for climate research," Kant said in his address at the World Sustainable Development Summit organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) here.

"If this doesn't happen then AI is not fit for purpose," he asserted.

 

The former G20 Sherpa of India also highlighted the immense power requirements of AI -- one of its biggest drawbacks.

"AI is an energy guzzler. Today, the technology consumes more energy than the whole of Japan," he said.

Research has shown that to train a large language model (which understand and generate human language by processing vast amounts of data) such as OpenAI's GPT-3, nearly 1,300 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity is required.

"This is an issue because increased electricity consumption can lead to more carbon emissions, worsening the climate crisis. To tackle the situation, AI needs to run on renewable energy. However, for that to happen, the world needs to upgrade transmission and supply grids," he added.

Charles Ogilvie, co-founder of Ocean Energy Pathway, who was also present at the event, said that one way to increase renewable energy capacity could be utilising offshore wind -- electricity generated by wind turbines installed on oceanic or sea-based platforms.

"Unlike onshore wind, offshore wind does not need land or high and stable wind speed. However, India has no offshore wind resources. With more data centres emerging in India, offshore wind, especially in southern parts, can play a significant part in addressing renewable energy needs," he said.