From KYC to AI models: Is India losing its digital sovereignty?
In Focus by The Hindu

From KYC to AI models: Is India losing its digital sovereignty?

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 28, 202654 min

Technology, and especially AI, are no longer just a tool for humans. Today they control our choices, shape our daily routines, and determine how we invest our energies. This is true at the level of the individual, and also at the level of the nation-state. While at the individual level, the key question concerns freedom, for the nation-state, it’s more about sovereignty – does India get to independently decide its own policies, or are they pre-decided for it by other geopolitical actors? A good example is how our banks do KYC. Thanks to a poorly designed framework, it has serv...

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This is In Focus, the Hindu's current affairs podcast. level of the nation state. While at the individual level, the key question concerns freedom, for the nation state, it is more about sovereignty.

0:40

Does India get to independently decide its own choices or are they pre-decided for it by other geopolitical actors? A good example is how our banks do KYC. Thanks to a poorly designed framework, it has become a blunt tool for mindless harassment.

0:59

If we can't get a simple KYC right, how well is India placed to navigate the complex landscape of fast evolving LLMs and AI models which pose major challenges to freedom and sovereignty? A fascinating new book titled Power of Uncertainty, The Battle for Privacy, Identity and Sovereignty tries to answer these very questions.

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