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AI & Glocalization in Law, Volume 1 (2020)
start-ups are able to benefit from the IPR and the technology that the larger companies are bringing into India. So, the problem is a common strong running across multiple regulatory documents released by the government in the recent past. In which Indian sector should we expect substantial movement on artificial intelligence front going forward? We undertook an internal research projects where we tried to assess how many sectors or which ministries organizations are thinking about deploying AI in any shape, way or form within their sectors. And, we were able to come up with 34 names within just a span of a few hours. But, there is definitely one sector the government is trying to promote and that is agriculture. So, agri-tech is a sector where the use of AI has been referenced time and again. The reason for this is that in 2017, the government had come out with a 14 volume report on how to double farmers’ incomes by 2022. In multiple volumes, there were references to emerging technologies. Therefore, as a snowball effect of that, all other ministries as well as government think tanks have concentrated on agri-tech as the field where they want to see the first development on air and the most development on air. So, this is one of the only sectors where the government has given independent, distinct thought. To this effect, they have even undertaken a lot of infrastructural projects and invested substantially in those. How are the algorithms affecting FinTech industries and what are some of the governance issues of the same? The experience in Middle East has been quite different from the Indian AI scenario because there is very less policy discussion around how AI and (Machine Learning) ML are to be treated. It has been treated at par with any other emerging innovative technology. So, they have a Ministry of AI and Dubai Future Foundation under which anything that cannot and does not fit into the existing regulatory landscape, existing regulations can find itself at a place being regulated. It is not exactly a sandbox but more of a closed environment such that the technology in itself can thrive and they can essentially offer solutions to UAE and the region. With that background, there are different sectors within Fintech whereby there has been surge in the use of AI-based products and algorithms. Majorly, compliance, fraud, anti-money laundering, financial forensics, investment advice, loan lending, robo-advisory, digital investment and wealth management are the sectors impacted by AI. When it comes to the actual problems or the approach in itself, the problems actually vary depending on which of the sectors this falls under. To draw broad distinction from a very transactional perspective and a consumer protection perspective, what really changes the dynamics in terms of a conversation around regulations or what a regulator should do or how one should oversee such transactions or what the level of reliance on an AI-based solution is or what the level of interaction of a consumer with this AI solution is, are actually what have changed the dynamics completely when it comes to the Fintech solutions.